RETROSPECTIVE OF THE BRAZIL-CHINA RELATIONS

The year 2020 was marked by declarations that shook Sino-Brazilian relations in the political sphere but did not prevent trade between the two countries from continuing to break records.

Unsurprisingly, China remained Brazil’s main trading partner, being the destination of 33% of our exports and 22% of imports. The Asian country increased its consumption of Brazilian meat, both beef, and pork, and became a major provider of medicines and pharmaceutical inputs. Purchases of these products by Brazil grew by 70% throughout 2020. In addition, around 43% of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) imported came from China.

Tensions about the 5G auction and, more specifically, the possible banning of Huawei from Brazil also weighed on the bilateral relationship and only dissipated with Anatel’s decision, in early 2021, not to veto the Chinese company.Purchases of Chinese pharmaceutical inputs exceeded US$ 600 million.

In the midst of all this, TikTok, an application by Chinese company ByteDance, exploded in popularity around the world, becoming the new pandemic pastime for millions of Brazilians.