Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture of China, Dr. Zhang Lubiao, PhD, says that “China’s doors are open to Brazil”. The statement was made during the 12th Brasil AgrochemShow, held last week in the city of São Paulo (SP). He gave the first lecture at the event, with the theme “Overview and perspectives on the Trade of Agricultural Products between China and Brazil”.
According to the Chinese leader, imports from the Asian giant are growing rapidly, outpacing the pace of exports – which contradicts the claims of the United States, which imposed tariffs to curb trade between the countries because it believes there is an imbalance in the trade balance. This occurs, according to him, because the Chinese government mobilizes financial resources and encourages foreign purchases.
Dr. Zhang Lubiao highlighted that Brazil already accounts for 24.1% of Chinese purchases, which is equivalent to US$$33 billion per year. The country is the main supplier to the Asian giant, ahead of countries such as the United States, with 11.8%, and Australia, with 7.6% of imports.
“Why do we import so much? Because we have Brazil! It is China’s largest source of agricultural partnership and trade,” the Director General of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture declared in a good-natured speech. According to him, this trade has been growing rapidly, and in 2018 it broke the record for negotiations.
The most sold Brazilian product to China is soybeans, with 87.3% of the total trade between the countries, which also includes meat, sugar cane, cotton and other commodities. However, Dr. Zhang Lubiao says he sees potential to increase this business much more, as well as diversify purchases to more products.
“We want to diversify our suppliers, but Brazil will continue to be our main trading partner. We support multilateralism and reject protectionism,” the Chinese government official said at the end of his speech, according to Chinese portal Agropages.
Post: Marina Carvejani
Author: Leonardo Gottems
Source: agrolink
