Brazil’s largest trading partner for almost two decades, China’s business with Brazil has increased even further in recent years. Numbers from the Secretariat for Foreign Trade (Secex/Mdic) indicate that last year Brazilian shipments to China reached $99.9 billion, up 5.9% compared with 2024. Imports also had a stronger expansion (11.4%), totaling $70.9 billion. And for 2026, economists project a continuation of this trend. A study by the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) indicates that the volume of Chinese investments in Brazil in 2024 totaled $77.5 billion, placing the Asian nation as the fifth largest foreign investor in the country.

Participants in the summit’s opening include Marcos Galvão, Brazilian ambassador to China; Marcos Caramuru, international advisor to Cebri and former Brazilian ambassador to China; Shen Xin, vice-president of CPAFFC; Chen Jing, vice-president of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress; Frederic Kachar, general director of Editora Globo and Sistema Globo de Rádio (SGR); and Maria Fernanda Delmas, editor-in-chief of Valor.

Next, eight panels will address the main economic connections between the two countries: “Brazil and China on the Global Chessboard: Strategies for a World with New Trade Relations,” “Brazil and China in the Global Leadership of the Energy Transition and Critical Minerals,” “Logistics and Infrastructure: Lines Connecting Ports, Rails and Chinese Investment in Brazil,” “Forging the Future: Health, AI and Emerging Sectors in Brazil-China Collaboration,” “Agribusiness – Food Security and the Next Growth Cycle of Brazilian Agriculture with China,” “Mobility of the Future: Chinese Industrial Plans in Brazil,” “Green Corridors: Developing the Low-Carbon Fuel Market in the Brazil-China Aviation and Maritime Transport” and “Paths to a Robust Finance Ecosystem.”

In the first panel, the debaters will be Izabella Teixeira, international advisory board member of Cebri and former minister of the environment; ambassador Marcos Galvão; Fang Li, chief representative of the Beijing Office of the World Resources Institute (WRI); Xu Tianqi, deputy director of the Department of Regional Studies at the Renmin University of China’s Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies; and Briza Bueno, general manager in Brazil of AliExpress.

The discussion on the role of critical minerals in the energy transition will feature Ricardo Lima, CEO of Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM); Jorge Arbache, professor of economics at the University of Brasília; Gu Haidong, vice-mayor of Suzhou; Han Zhao, senior investment executive at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Marcelo Sampaio, executive director of legal and institutional affairs at Vale Minerals China; and Shelley Wang, head of the Brazil unit of Hexing Electrical.

Logistics and infrastructure issues will be discussed by panelists Leonardo Ribeiro, secretary of rail transport at Brazil’s Ministry of Transportation; Gao Liang, vice-president of the China Overseas Engineering Group; Li Sisheng, executive vice-president of Powerchina International; Ding Songbing, general manager and head of the Strategy and Research Department at Shanghai International Port; and Zhang Jianyu, deputy secretary-general and chief director of Development at the Belt and Road Alliance for Green Development.

The panel on health and artificial intelligence will include Igor Marchesini Ferreira, special advisor to the Ministry of Finance; Shirley Lu Han, specialist at the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products (CCCMHPIE); Felipe Daud, director of institutional relations for the Alibaba Group in Latin America; Leticia Frazão Leme, minister counselor at the Brazilian Embassy in Beijing; Chen Weijing, deputy director at the Hangzhou Municipal Commerce Agency; Zhou Yong, CMO of Hangzhou StarSpecies Robotics; and Hui Jingbo, marketing director at Hangzhou Zhizhen Technology.

The panel focused on agribusiness will bring together Pablo Machado, executive vice-president of business in China and strategy at Suzano; Kevin Chen, international dean at the Chinese Academy of Rural Development (CARD); Larry Lin, chief representative at Minerva’s office in China; André Guimarães, executive director at Ipam; Inty Mendoza, chief representative for China at CNA/Senar; and Tian Lei, president of the Tianjin Meat Producers Association.

The discussion on mobility and the automotive industry will include Sidney Levy, president of Invest.Rio; Victor Oliveira de Queiroz, general manager at the ApexBrasil office in Beijing; Priscila Sakalen, secretary of transportation and urban mobility of the State of Rio de Janeiro; Cui Hongbin (August), director of international energy systems’ projects for Latin America at CATL.

The panel on green fuels will feature Sergio Peres, professor at the University of Pernambuco (UPE); Larissa Wachholz, senior fellow at Cebri; Feng An, executive director at the Energy and Transportation Innovation Center (iCET); Shen Wang, CEO of SafPac; Li Zhenglong, vice-director at Zhejiang University; and Xia Shubiao, manager of the R&D center for security technology at China Marine Bunker.

The summit’s closing will bring together, to discuss financing mechanisms, Ricardo Damiani, representative of Banco do Brasil in China; ambassador Marcos Caramuru; Lucas Reis, senior leader of climate finance at BNDES; Li Zhiqing, executive director of the Institute of Green Finance at Fudan University; Wu Changhua, representative of the Global Climate Academy; Liao Shuping, senior researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute; and Ruiming Song, special climate advisor at Century City Holdings.

The panels will be moderated by Fernanda Delmas; Zínia Baeta, executive editor of Valor; Lucas de Vitta, assistant editor at Valor; Maria Luiza Filgueiras, editor of Pipeline; Marli Olmos, special reporter for Valor; and Marcelo Ninio, correspondent for O Globo in Beijing.

In addition to the debates, which will take place at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, the program includes two days of visits to companies that have become prominent worldwide for the technological innovations introduced in their sectors of activity. At Alibaba, artificial intelligence and cloud environment solutions will be the focus; at JD (Jingdong Group, China’s largest retailer), logistics; at Fourier, robotics; at Envision, energy transition.

The “Summit Valor Econômico Brazil-China 2026” is the third event of its kind promoted by Valor in China since 2024. This edition is sponsored by BYD, the City of Rio de Janeiro through Invest.Rio, Embratur, the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, and ApexBrasil, with support from the City of São Paulo and São Paulo Negócios, Suzano, CBMM, Alibaba, the World Resources Institute, the Climate and Society Institute (iCS), CNA Senar, and the National Confederation of Industry (CNI). The panels will be broadcast on Valor’s website and social media. There will be English-language coverage on Valor International. The newspaper will not cover any expenses for public officials participating in the debates.

*By Valor — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/