by Moacyr de Oliveira Filho
Director of Journalism at Associação Brasileira de Imprensa, Brazil
The second session of the 14th National People’s Congress(NPC), the main body of China’s Legislative Branch, closed in March, by a large majority of votes, approved resolutions that support the authority of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping. The organization supported measures to improve economic indicators and reinforce the guidelines already in force.
China grew 5.2% in 2023. The Chinese jump of 5.2% is more than double the increase recorded last year by the United States (2.5%) and almost triple Japan’s growth (1.9% ).
For 2024, the Government Work Report, released in March, sets goals for the “Economic and Social Development Policy”. Firstly, the Communist Party proposes the continuation of the binomial development with growth.
To achieve this, the projection is for economic growth of around 5% per year and the generation of more than 12 million new urban jobs.
Among the approved goals are “personal income growth in line with economic growth”, “a basic balance of payments balance”, “cereal production exceeding 650 million tons” and “continuous improvements in the environment”.
China also wants to reduce energy consumption. A target of a 2.5% reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP was approved. There is no evidence that any developed Western country has adopted a target of this size.
The Vice President of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, when received on Friday (6/7), by President Xi Jinping, celebrated the joint efforts made in recent years, which resulted in important advances in reducing poverty in China, achieved which he considered a “worldwide miracle”. He added that the experience can bring important lessons to Brazil. He highlighted the Brazilian government’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable growth and expressed interest in strengthening the alignment of development strategies with China.
In a review of his visit to China, Alckmin highlighted the strength of trade relations between the two countries, with a 17-fold increase in trade relations over the last 20 years, rising from US$9 billion to the current US$157 billion. Alckmin said that, in practice, the figures mean the creation of new jobs and an improvement in Brazilians’ income.
With the policy of reform and opening up, in which China began to follow the path of impetuous national development, China has become more participative in what it calls “multilateral diplomacy”.
The country has established diplomatic, economic, commercial and cultural relations with all countries, based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence and the explicit agreement on the recognition that there is only one China in the world.
Since 2009, China has been Brazil’s main trading partner and Brazil became, in 2013, China’s eighth trading partner, the first among BRICS members. China has also become the main foreign direct investor in Brazil, an investment of strategic importance for economic development because it generates growth, employment and income. Trade relations have become an important lever for Brazil to play a relevant role in the international economy.
Economic and specifically commercial relations are favorable to Brazil. The opening of the Chinese market favors Brazilian foreign trade. Mainly the Brazilian agribusiness sector benefits from the growth in Chinese demand.
The Chinese foreign policy of providing a shared future for all humanity, defended by President Xi Jinping, can also favor Brazil’s economic and social development and further strengthen friendship between the two countries and people.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.