Investment by Chinese companies in Brazil totalled US$51.7 billion in the period from 2005 to 2016, according to the sixth edition of Panorama International, presented on Thursday in Porto Alegre by the Economics and Statistics Foundation (FEE).

“Since 1974, when Brazil resumed diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, the country increased its involvement until it became the main destination for Brazilian exports, competing with the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Robson Valdez , one of the economists who prepared the publication.

China is now the largest trading partner of Brazil as a whole and of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as world’s largest producer of rice and tobacco, the second largest producer of wheat and corn and the fourth largest soybean producer, which are important crops in Brazil.

The relationship with China is crucial for Rio Grande do Sul, as the country is the state’s main trading partner. In 2016, for example 27.5% of state exports were sent to China, with soybeans accounting for almost 80% of the total.

The Siegfried Emanuel Heuser Economics and Statistics Foundation (FEE) is a research institution managed by the Department of Planning, Mobility and Regional Development of the State Government of Rio Grande do Sul. It was established in 1973 and is currently the largest source of statistical data about that Brazilian state. (macauhub)