Brazil decides not to join China’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative

Brazil has decided not to join China’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It has become the second country after India in the BRICS bloc to reject Beijing’s mega project. Celso Amorim, special presidential adviser for international affairs, told Brazilian newspaper O Globo that instead of joining BRI, Brazil will seek alternative ways to collaborate with Chinese investors. 

Officials from Brazil’s economy and foreign affairs ministries recently voiced opposition to the idea of joining BRI. The prevailing opinion in Brazil is that joining China’s flagship infrastructure project would not only fail to bring any tangible benefits for Brazil in the short term, but could also make relations with a



potential Trump administration more difficult. 

Recently, Amorim and the president’s chief of staff Rui Costa travelled to Beijing to discuss the initiative but they returned unconvinced and unimpressed by China’s offers. Lula da Silva government’s decision contradicts China’s plans to make Brazil’s joining of the initiative a centrepiece of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brasilia on November 20.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai recently urged Brazil to view the proposal to join BRI through an objective lens and risk management. The Chinese embassy in Brasilia called her remarks irresponsible and disrespectful.