Brazil | Chinese ambassador announces interest in railway investment

China’s government is interested in investing in railways and urban transport in Brazil, in the case of the VLT or light railway and the metro itself, said Ambassador Li Jinzhang, who noted the good results achieved with investments in port infrastructure.

The Chinese ambassador to Brazil also told Brazilian news agency Agência Brasil that a Chinese company, which he did not identify, has already submitted a proposal for the construction of a surface light railway to the Federal District government, where the country’s capital, Brasília, is located.

Li Jinzhang recalled that the governments of his country and Brazil have already set out the priority areas for investments – energy, telecommunications, infrastructure, agriculture and science and technology.

“Infrastructure is the most important area of bilateral cooperation. The Brazilian government expects Chinese companies to increase investment and the Chinese government will also motivate Chinese companies to deepen cooperation in this area,” he said.

Jinzhang also said that the Chinese authorities “are eager” to find a solution to reduce or eliminate import surcharges on Brazilian products, which include chicken meat and sugar.

The issue of Chinese surcharges was one of the subjects discussed between Brazilian President Michel Temer and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during the 10th BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which ended on 27 July in Johannesburg, South Africa.  MDT/Macauhub