In the context of energy transition, Chinese enterprises' investment in overseas clean projects has accelerated. Chinese interest in Brazil's clean energy sector returns strongly in 2023. In the first five months of 2023 alone, Chinese companies have invested a total of 65 billion reais ($13 billion) in this sector in Brazil, making them the main investment force in the country's clean energy industry. Between 2007 and 2021, Chinese companies invested a total of $32 billion in Brazil's clean energy industry.

With the current auction of large-scale projects being planned by the Brazilian government, the expansion of renewable energy, and the growing demand for electrification and green hydrogen in Brazil, major Chinese companies have announced a series of memorandums of understanding and new partners in Brazil. If their primary strategy was mergers and acquisitions, they are now much more likely to invest in new projects in Brazil, such as GreenField.

Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira recently met with China Energy Construction International Chairman Lu Zexiang and announced the company's plans to invest in Brazil's transmission system and wind energy industries, respectively. The total investment is about 50 billion reais ($10 billion).

Meanwhile, PowerChina and Pontoon Clean Tech have agreed to build a large solar power plant in the cities of Mauriti and Milagres in Ceara state, with a total investment of about R $1.8 billion (US $360 million).

Spic Brasil, the Brazilian subsidiary of China Power Investment, also said it would invest about $2 billion more in Brazil to increase its scale through mergers and acquisitions, and is expected to increase the total power generation of its two solar projects in Brazil from the current 2.5 GW to 5 GW by 2025.

During Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to China, he had several meetings with business representatives of China's major clean energy industries, transmission grid industries, and new energy transportation industries. Zhang Zhigang, general manager of the State Grid of China, was one of them. The company will participate in the bidding of Brazil's transmission grid expansion project with a total investment of about $50 billion in 2023.

While in China, Lula also met with Wang Chuanfu, founder of BYD, which has pledged to invest a cumulative 10 billion reais in Brazil by 2025 in the production and assembly of electric vehicles, as well as solar energy.

Currently, Huawei equipment is banned in the United States, but this has not affected the company's position in Brazil. In May 2023, Huawei signed a contract with Rio Alto to use artificial intelligence provided by Huawei in its solar power plants. Atilio Rulli, Huawei's vice president of communications for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that in addition to the geopolitical aspect, the business environment in Brazil is gradually becoming more favorable. Editor/Xu Shengpeng