Chinese Consul-General in Rio de Janeiro Li Yang has said economic and political ties between his country and Brazil will keep on getting stronger.
In a television interview broadcast by the Chinese government-run network CGTN, Mr Li said he expected the attitude to China shown by the government of new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to be little different from that of the last government.
“I don’t believe that, while keeping close or becoming closer to the United States, Brazil can keep away from China,” Mr Li said.
“As President Xi Jinping said, we will still be there.”
The value of investment by Chinese state-owned and private companies in Brazil is between US$51 billion and US$55 billion, much of it invested in oil and gas production, solar energy and agriculture, and China is the biggest trading partner of Brazil, according to the consul-general.
