China’s foreign direct investment in Brazil: a study of selected sectors

Abstract

After becoming Brazil’s main trading partner in 2009, China began to play a fundamental role in the entry of investments into strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. During the years 2005 to 2022, accumulated Chinese FDI in the country reached the mark of US$79 billion, with a predominance in oil and gas (37%) and electrical energy (33%). Given this situation, the objective of the article was to analyze the intensification of China’s investments in Brazil, based on broader strategies for the internationalization of Chinese capital. The study identified a greater concentration in energy sectors, which, on the one hand, derives not only from the Chinese search for such resources around the world, but also from characteristics of Brazil in the period studied, and which, on the other, implies different forms participation of Chinese capital in the country, whether through mergers and acquisitions, as in the electricity sector, or exploration concessions, in the case of oil and gas.

JEL: F21, F23, O54.

Keywords
Sino-Brazilian cooperation; Transnational companies; Foreign direct investment; Strategic resources