2023 is the 49th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of economic and trade relations. The visit of a large economic and trade delegation led by Brazilian President Lula will make the business people of the two countries look forward to the economic and trade cooperation in the next 50 years with more confidence.

steel love

In 1973, the first shipment of iron ore from Brazil’s Vale arrived in China, opening the formal economic and trade relationship between China and Brazil. Fifty years later, the total amount of iron ore exported by Vale to China has exceeded 2.9 billion tons , the total export volume in 2023 will exceed 70 million tons. In a way, there is a special irony between China and Brazil. Now this kind of fate is not limited to the trade of mineral resources. China's metallurgical industry's top technology, equipment and engineering services are increasingly being exported to Brazil.

Lu Pengcheng, Chairman of Sinosteel International Engineering Technology Co., Ltd.: At present, Chinese companies, especially state-owned engineering technology companies, have launched cooperation in engineering technology in Brazil. One is Chinese technology, the other is Chinese equipment, and Chinese Services, and of course Chinese brands. The first time I went there more than ten years ago was also to discuss cooperation, which was very difficult. These years have changed more and more. Overall, China's engineering technology and China's equipment manufacturing technology standards have improved, and the scale of our cooperation is now growing.

RMB internationalization

Sinosteel International Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. is the earliest enterprise in China's metallurgical industry to go global. At present, it mainly provides engineering and technical services for bulk material processing for Brazilian enterprises such as Vale through localized operations in Brazil. Before President Lula's visit to China, Brazilian partners had already come to China to discuss new cooperation with them.

Lu Pengcheng, Chairman of Sinosteel International Engineering Technology Co., Ltd.: The CEO of Vale visited major Chinese steel companies last month, and started new talks on cooperation in ore trade and engineering technology, which also achieved new results. Our advantage is still relying on the improvement of the country's overall manufacturing industry, and we have comprehensive advantages in terms of comprehensive cost performance and product quality.

Lu Pengcheng, Chairman of Sinosteel International Engineering Technology Co., Ltd.: I think that through President Lula's visit to China, it may be easier for the two sides to communicate with each other in terms of commercial barriers. Especially in the area of currency, the internationalization of RMB may bring convenience to our subsequent economic and trade cooperation.

Currently, Brazil is China's ninth largest trading partner, and China has been Brazil's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. According to Chinese customs statistics, in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Pakistan will be 171.49 billion US dollars. It is expected that the cooperation between the two countries will open up more new prospects in the future and become a model for South-South cooperation within the BRICS countries.Editor/Ma Xue