The Amazon and the Internationalisation of Chinese Companies

Wegner, Rubia Cristina; Fernandes, Marcelo Pereira

doi:10.1590/S0102-8529.2018400200006

Rubia Cristina Wegner

Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica-RJ, Brazil; rubicawegner@gmail.com. ORCID iD 0000-0002-4824-8414.

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4824-8414

Marcelo Pereira Fernandes

Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica-RJ, Brazil; mapefern@gmail.com; ORCID iD 0000-0003-4550-8564.

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4550-8564

Rubia Cristina Wegner has a Master’s in Economic Development from the Economics Institute of the State University of Campinas and is a PhD candidate in Economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Currently she is Assistant Professor and coordinator of the course of Economic Sciences at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). She was a scholarship holder of IPEA in the project ‘Socioeconomic Structure and Policies for the Integration of South America.’ She participated in the project ‘Perspectives of Investment in Brazil’ (BNDES) with the theme ‘Investment Perspective on the Mercosur and Integration of Latin America’. She was a scholar in the project ‘Brazilian Foreign Policy and the Development Challenges of Least Developed Countries – Haiti’s Case’, funded by MCT/CNPq.

Marcelo Pereira Fernandes holds a PhD in Economic Sciences from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF/RJ). He holds an MA degree in Political Economy from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC/SP). He authored the book Exchange regime and macroeconomic performance the experience of Argentina, Mexico and Brazil in the 90s. Currently he is Associate Professor and vice-coordinator of Economic Sciences at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). He is also a member of the Federal Council of Economy (COFECON), the Research Group on Historical Patterns of Economic Development of South America, and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Studies in International Relations.

Unit	1990-2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	Total per unit	%
Brazil	255	9563	5676	6066	2580	24140	50.1%
Peru	2262	84	829	1307	4626	9108	18.9%
Ecuador	1619	45	59	86	88	1897	3.9%
Colombia	1677	6	293	996	776	3748	7.8%
Amazon^*	5813	9698	6857	8455	8070	38893	80.7%
Total Latin America^**	6342	13712	9309	9206	9624	48193	--
Participation of the Amazon	91.7%	70.7%	73.7%	91.8%	83.9%	81.0%	--

Treaty/Agreement	Formulation	Objective	Instruments	Key measures
IIRSA-Cosiplan	2000	Infrastructure projects in the region based on territorial and economic development links.	Integration and Development Hubs: Guiana Shield, Andean Hub, Amazonas Hub, Peru–Bolivia–Brazil Hub.	Until 2016, 182 projects were considered in the portfolio. Of these, 53 were completed, 54 are in execution and 44 under analysis.
Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT)	1978	Promote the harmonious development of the region and the well-being of the populations, besides strengthening the sovereignty of the countries over their Amazonian territories.	Regional co-operation.	–
Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)	2002	It becomes an international organisation with a permanent secretariat and its own budget.	An administrative structure initiated by the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Amazon Cooperation Council (CCA).	More than 10 initiatives, projects and programmes, on the environment, indigenous affairs, science and technology, health, tourism and social inclusion.
Northern Arc	2008	It has two branches and comprises the Brazilian states of Rondônia, Amazonas, Amapá and Maranhão. An initiative still under study, conducted by Eletrobras⁴ to enable energy integration between Brazil and the Guiana Island. And another, in continuous expansion, agribusiness logistics. This logistics branch is a complex of port and waterway investments on the rivers Madeira, Amazonas and Tapajós Basin.	Basically via Eletrobras and three other large energy companies with a Transmission Hub idealised from Manaus, Brazil, going through the French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana, arriving in Boa Vista, Brazil. In its logistics aspect, it is an export route.	During Rio +20, in 2012, the main objectives of the Northern Arc were discussed with the IDB, and then memorandums of understanding were prepared. In March 2013, Eletrobras and the other companies, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the IDB signed the Northern Arc agreement. That same year, the IDB released US$1.9m. In 2003, Cargill company’s boarding terminal in Santarém was inaugurated.

Company	Ownership	Segment / Sector	Investment models
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)	State-owned	Upstream activities in the oil chain.	Interest of 10% as an operator in the pre-salt Libra field in Brazil.
China Fishery Group Limited	Holding	Fishery and commercialisation of fish.	Interest (over 50%) in the Norwegian company Copeinca ASA, which operates in fishery exploration in Peru.
Chongqing Grain Group Co	State-owned	Production of biofuel and soya goods.	In Brazil, it announced an investment in the construction of a soya bean processing plant in the west of the state of Bahia, but the project is interrupted.
Hunan Dakang	Private	Production and distribution of dairy products. Production and distribution of pork and mutton.	The firm and its parent company, Pengxint, agreed to buy an interest (around 57%) in Fiagril, a Brazilian grain processing and trading company located in Mato Grosso.
BBCA Brazil	State-owned	Chemical industry, holding 20% of the international citric acid market.	Under construction in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It will be a chemical industrial plant based on the processing of maize and cogeneration of energy.
State Grid Brazil Holding	State-owned	Power transmission.	Acquisition of seven national power transmission companies in Brazil.
China Three Gorges Corporation	State-owned	Power transmission.	Acquisition of interest in consortiums of hydroelectric plants along the Amazon River Basin.
Shineray	State-owned	Automotive.	Importation of Chinese motorcycles, cars and bicycles to the Brazilian market.
Shaanxi Automobile Group (SAG)	State-owned	It designs, produces and exports heavy trucks (from China), dump trucks for concrete, among others.	It manufactures Shacman trucks in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

[1] Rubia Cristina Wegner has a Master’s in Economic Development from the Economics Institute of the State University of Campinas and is a PhD candidate in Economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Currently she is Assistant Professor and coordinator of the course of Economic Sciences at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). She was a scholarship holder of IPEA in the project ‘Socioeconomic Structure and Policies for the Integration of South America.’ She participated in the project ‘Perspectives of Investment in Brazil’ (BNDES) with the theme ‘Investment Perspective on the Mercosur and Integration of Latin America’. She was a scholar in the project ‘Brazilian Foreign Policy and the Development Challenges of Least Developed Countries – Haiti’s Case’, funded by MCT/CNPq.

Brasil

Brasil

The Amazon and the Internationalisation of Chinese Companies

Amazônia e a Internacionalização das Empresas Chinesas

Abstract