Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries amounts to US$ 174 billion

Trade relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries reached US$ 174.18 billion this year alone, a result 7.84% higher than the same period in 2023. Brazil continues to be China’s largest Portuguese-speaking trading partner .

In the same period, trade between the two countries generated US$146.23 billion, 10.1% more than in the same period in 2023.

Of this total, China purchased US$91.18 billion and sold US$55.05 billion to Brazil. The information comes from the Macau Forum (Forum for Economic and Commercial Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries).

It is also worth highlighting that, according to Apex Brasil, China is the eighth largest investor in Brazil and first among Asian countries. “Brazil has a prominent place among Chinese destinations for infrastructure investments, ranking first among countries on the American continent, with 35 projects, and fourth overall. As for the regional distribution of Chinese investments in Brazil, the Northeast is the Brazilian region with the largest number of Chinese infrastructure projects”, says the agency.

Also read: With Lula, Chinese investments in Brazil grow 33%

The relationship between the two countries, which in 2024 celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations, could strengthen and increase even further if Brazil joins the New Silk Road, or Belt and Road Initiative, a program that China hopes to be able to do trillion-dollar investments and infrastructure projects in other countries.

In the second half of this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in Brazil, when he will participate in the G20 meetings, and the topic will be part of the agenda of issues to be discussed between the two countries.

During a recent event at the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave a positive signal to the initiative. “The Chinese want to discuss the Silk Road with us and we will discuss it. We are not going to close our eyes, no. We’re going to say, ‘What do you have for us? What do I have with this? What do I get?’. That’s the discussion.”

Other Portuguese-speaking countries

Also according to information from the Macau Forum, considering the total movement between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, the Asian country imported US$ 109.13 billion, an increase of 2.62% compared to the same period of the year past, and exported US$65.06 billion to the Portuguese-speaking world, an annual increase of 17.91%, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

After Brazil, the country with the most trade relations with China among Portuguese speakers is Angola, with bilateral trade totaling US$ 1.70 billion in September, representing a slight increase of 0.2% in annual terms. In the period from January to September, the two countries registered trade of US$ 15.81 billion, an annual drop of 3.7%.

Also read: Chinese investments in Brazil strengthen ties between countries

In third place was Portugal, with the value of trade reaching US$ 702.40 million, an annual drop of 9.4%. From January to September, Sino-Portuguese trade totaled US$6.98 billion, increasing 5.5% in annual terms.

Between China and Mozambique, trade reached US$345.98 million in September. In the first nine months of 2024, there were US$3.80 billion, 6% less compared to the same period last year.

With information from Diário do Povo