Open questions | Brazil’s vice-president on 50 years of China ties and boosting trade amid fairness rows
- Geraldo Alckmin also discusses the decision to impose tariffs on Chinese steel and Beijing’s help after his country’s worst climate disaster
Brazilian Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin coordinates the Sino-Brazilian High-Level Commission for Consultation and Cooperation (Cosban) – the largest and most important dialogue mechanism between the two countries – and heads the ministry of development, industry and foreign trade.
This year Brazil and China are celebrating 50 years of bilateral ties. It is happening at a geopolitical moment marked by strong polarisation, which some analysts call a ‘new cold war’ between Beijing and Washington. Do you agree with this term?
Brazil is a large country, one of the most populous and extensive in the world, with a complex and significant economy, the eighth largest in the world. These characteristics have led us to develop a universalist and pragmatic foreign-policy tradition throughout our history. We maintain relations with all countries and are used to building bridges between North and South, East and West, industrialised and developing countries.
How will Brazil approach this narrative, given the need to maintain relations with China without alienating its partners in North America and Europe?
I don’t think Brazil needs to choose a relationship with one partner to the detriment of another. We will continue a high-level relationship with China without jeopardising our relations with other traditional partners.
You recently completed a visit to China in which you led a large delegation on the occasion of a Cosban summit. Many Brazilian analysts have said that although the commission is the largest bilateral body between Brazil and China, it has been underused by both sides. How do you assess this perception and how does the Brazilian government plan to use Cosban in the coming years? Has any progress been made in institutionalising and making the working groups within the commission more effective?
Cosban was created in 2004 during the first term of President [Luiz Inacio] Lula [da Silva] and has become the most important negotiating mechanism between Brazil and China. In its 20 years of existence, the commission has actively managed and coordinated cooperation between the two countries, ensuring efficiency, a substantial volume of business and continuity in Brazil-China relations.
China is today Brazil’s most important trading partner. Bilateral trade flows increased from US$6.6 billion in 2003 to US$157 billion in 2023. Brazil’s trade surplus with China, which has been the main destination for Brazilian exports since 2009, amounted to US$51.1 billion – more than half of the US$98 billion surplus Brazil achieved in 2023. Cosban has played a fundamental role in strengthening these bilateral relations by promoting high-level dialogue and partnership between the two countries.
Cosban’s structure has been reformed and is constantly being adapted to the priorities jointly established by our authorities, leading to a process of institutionalising bilateral contacts within the mechanism’s framework. The seventh meeting of Cosban was an expression of the commitment by both nations to further deepen our strategic partnership.
We secured 24.6 billion Brazilian real (US$4.4 billion) in loans for infrastructure in Brazil, signed eight intergovernmental instruments and announced important results in government and private-sector agreements in the areas of agriculture, finance, environment and climate change, trade, industry, communications, health, education, culture, outer space, energy, micro and small enterprises, social and rural development, as well as science, technology and innovation.
