China’s investments in Brazil reach US$349 million in January and February
MacauHUBIn the first two months of 2018 China invested US$349 million in Brazil in three major projects in the financial services, information technology and commerce sectors, according to the “Bimonthly Newsletter on Chinese Investments in Brazil” published by the Office for International Affairs (Seain) of the Brazilian Ministry of Planning, Development and Management.
The three announced deals include the purchase of São Paulo company “99 taxis” by DiDi Changing for US$297 million and the acquisition of 80% of Guide Investments brokerage by the Fosun Group for US$52 million .
SZ DJI Technology, headquartered in Shenzhen, responsible for 70% of world sales of drones, opened a store in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year but the value of the investment was not disclosed.
Regarding investment intentions, the report said that in January, Chinese representatives from Zhuhai Yuren Agricultural visited nine municipalities in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso to learn about their potential and discuss the possibility of installing a factory to manufacture drones for use in agriculture. The investme totals US$22 million.
Also in January, CPFL Energia announced it will focus its efforts on new business development and the purchase of assets in the electricity sector. The forecast is for investments of 10 billion reais over the next five years. Also in January Chinese company BBCA announced it will resume work on maize processing in Maracaju, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, for an investment of 1 billion reais.
As for the investments announced in February, the Seain report said that three Chinese companies and Bahia Mineração (Bamin) will sign a joint venture for construction of Porto Sul. Also in February, Chinese group CEE Power announced its intention to expand its activity in Brazil’s electricity sector, where it has had an concession since 2016 to build a batch of transmission lines.
The investments confirmed between 2003 and February 2018 amounted to US$54.1 billion.
Most of the investments were made by publicly traded companies such as Wisco, China Three Gorges and State Grid.