China has promised “new opportunities” for Brazil during a meeting between President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Beijing. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China will pursue high-quality development and promote high-level opening up, opening up new opportunities for Brazil and the world. This follows Lula’s previous statement that Brazil was “back on the international scene” and his desire to leave his mark on the international agenda. There is a strategic context to China’s actions, with offensive on all fronts and a desire to establish China as the leader of the global South. Beijing is pushing for de-dollarization and yuanization and attempting to advance its pawns in non-Western international organizations.
China promised this Friday “new opportunities” for Brazil, during a meeting in Beijing between President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who the day before harshly criticized the omnipresence of the US dollar.
“China will pursue high-quality development, accelerate the creation of a new development paradigm, and dedicate itself to promoting high-level opening up,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement reported by state media.
China’s development will open up “new opportunities” for Brazil and the world, added the same source.
Imprint on the international agenda
In Shanghai, President Lula had stated the day before that Brazil was “back on the international scene”wanting to turn the page on isolation under the presidency of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
For Emmanuel Véron, a specialist in contemporary China, there is a desire on the part of Lula, who has just been re-elected as head of the Brazilian Federation, to leave their mark on the international agenda.
“What is interesting to see is that Brazil is trying to find its way once more in Latin America, but also in the global South,” explains Véron.
“That explains the increasingly dense relations with China, but which are in the continuity of the last 20 or 30 years of bilateral relations between China and Brazil, especially with industrial consortiums, agri-food consortiums, with a reprimarization of the Brazilian economy, precisely with the strengthening of Chinese trade and economic ties”, he adds.
China’s ambition to become the leader of the “global South”
Offensive on all fronts, Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to put Beijing at the center of a new world order. He makes no secret of his ambition to establish China as the leader of the global South, the area that brings together four-fifths of humanity. This initiative includes the de-dollarization and yuanization of the economies of the global South in a context of international sanctions.
“The question of de-dollarization, and ultimately of yuanization, is a subject that has been worked on for several months and we see that the Chinese are now taking action because they have managed to convince the Russians, not without difficulty,” comments Emmanuel Veron.
“Brazil itself is very favorable to this type of yuanization of the economies. This is also the case of the economies of the Middle East, I am thinking of the agreements with Saudi Arabia, a historical ally of the United States in security, military and diplomatic matters, and we are also thinking of Iran, in a context of international sanctions”, he adds.
For this specialist in contemporary China, there is a strategic context that is that of the sanctions that Washington carries out, and that Beijing precisely shows as a kind of front once morest the global South.
“Beijing tries to be the leader of the global South, tries to advance its pawns in this de-dollarization, this yuanization and find a path of leadership within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, within the Brics and we have an expansion of partner countries before the end of the year and next year, which will enrich the ranks of these various non-Western international organizations,” he concludes.
In conclusion, China’s promises of new opportunities for Brazil come amidst its ambition to establish itself as the leader of the global South and put Beijing at the center of a new world order. For Brazil, whose president is looking to leave his mark on the international agenda, this presents an opportunity to find its way once more in Latin America and the global South. The de-dollarization and yuanization of the economies of the global South, a subject China has been working on for months, might play a significant role in achieving these goals. As the world waits to see how these ambitions unfold, it is clear that the relationship between China and Brazil will continue to be one of strategic importance for both countries, particularly in the years ahead.
