Recently, China's Ministry of Commerce released a list of outcomes of the sixth meeting of the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee to the public. The list shows that China and Brazil agreed on matters of cooperation in promoting the development of agricultural trade, low-carbon and clean technology investment between the two countries, and agreed to actively cooperate in areas such as the digital economy.

The industry generally believes that China and Brazil further promote investment and trade cooperation in multiple fields, with broad opportunities for future cooperation and promising prospects.

Agricultural products trade is getting more and more fragrant

In recent years, China and Brazil have achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation, with bilateral trade exceeding USD 100 billion for four consecutive years and China maintaining its position as Brazil's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. Brazil is the largest investment destination of China in Latin America. 2021, China and Brazil overcame the adverse impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and other adverse effects, the trade volume between the two sides increased by 37% to 164.1 billion U.S. dollars. 2022 in the first quarter, China's total exports to Brazil about 19 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 23% of Brazil's total imports; China's total imports from Brazil 19.7 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 29% of Brazil's total exports.

Trade in agricultural products performed particularly well. Brazilian industry insiders said that, over the years, not only soybeans and other bulk commodities of Brazil's exports to China has maintained a steady growth, meat, fruit, honey and other products to China export opportunities are also increasing, Brazil's agricultural exports to China accounted for a significant increase in the past decade.

In an online seminar held in March this year on the theme of cooperation between Brazil and China in agriculture, Jean Tarroun, special advisor to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, reportedly said that Brazil's agricultural trade with China is very important and that Brazil's agricultural exports to China exceed $40 billion in 2021. Tarroun added that the priority for Brazilian agribusiness is to maintain long-term relations with China and to diversify exports by creating a Brazilian image among the Chinese consumer base, according to the needs of the Chinese market.

Many Brazilian companies are also actively pursuing the Chinese market through the platform of the China International Import Expo. Brazilian companies showcased their unique products to Chinese consumers at the first edition of the fair, including traditional Brazilian cuisine and specialty drinks such as cheese bread, croquettes, chocolate balls, sugar cane wine and fine coffee. At the fourth edition of the Fair held last year, the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency, together with 16 Brazilian companies and institutions, brought local specialties such as meat, beverages, natural foods (honey, nuts) and dairy products.

Zhou Mi, deputy director and researcher of the Institute of Americas and Oceania, Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, said in an interview with International Business Daily that Brazil is a large agricultural country and agriculture is of great significance to its economic development. China-Brazil agricultural trade has a wide space, especially in the current global agricultural market, including food prices fluctuate sharply as well as the expected instability, the complementary advantages between China and Brazil are more obvious and the prospects are more promising. Not only in the field of trade, both sides also have a broad space for investment and cooperation in agricultural products processing and other fields. Through agricultural trade and investment cooperation in agriculture, China and Pakistan can meet the needs of the consumer markets of both countries, help increase agricultural production and farmers' income, and also contribute to the economic recovery of both countries after the epidemic.

Green low-carbon cooperation becomes a new highlight

At present, the adverse effects of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent, and the urgency of global action continues to rise. How to cope with climate change and promote world economic recovery has become an issue of the times for all countries. Green, low-carbon and environment-friendly cooperation has thus become a new highlight of China-Pakistan practical cooperation.

On November 25 last year, CGNPC Brazil Energy Holdings Ltd. put into operation the first greenfield wind power project with independent engineering, construction and management, which has an installed capacity of 82,800 kilowatts and can contribute 366 million kilowatt hours to Brazil every year. The newly started TN wind power project is located in Bahia State, northeastern Brazil, with a total installed capacity of 180,000 kilowatts, and is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in April 2023, with a forecasted annual power generation capacity of 720 million kilowatt hours after completion, which is expected to greatly alleviate the local power tension.

Brazil is rich in solar, hydro and wind energy resources, and in recent years, the local government has launched a series of initiatives to encourage the development of clean energy. The project is a microcosm of China's increased investment in Brazil's clean energy sector, providing a boost to promote local low-carbon growth.

Zhou Mi said that China and Brazil have common development needs and good cooperation basis in the green low-carbon field, and Chinese enterprises have some advantages, such as having relatively low cost and practical low-carbon technology, which can provide more affordable and easy to promote technical support for Brazil, and the prospect of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides is promising. As developing countries, China and Brazil can strengthen green and low-carbon cooperation, which is also of positive and important significance to the global response to climate change.