BYD is the largest Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles, which, after establishing its position in its country of origin, is now preparing to enter the European market with force. Its presence in Portugal is still awaiting the definition of the last details, but the Observer found that everything will be finalized in the first days of May.

According to data from the statistical office of the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, consulted on the 12th of April by Lusa, exports of products from Brazil to China rose from more than US$41 billion in 2012 to US$89.4 billion last year, with iron ore and soy occupying the first two places, followed by oil, and together they are worth 75% of Brazilian exports to this country.

According to the official newspaper Nanfang Daily, the Guangdong Provincial Tax Service launched on the 13th of April the first series of tax guides for investment in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Midea, one of the largest domestic appliance manufacturers in the world and leader in air conditioning equipment, launched in Pouso Alegre, in the south of Minas Gerais, Brazil, the works of its first 100%-owned plant in Brazil.

China’s leading agricultural and food company, COFCO Corporation, has invested more than US$2.3 billion in Brazil since 2014, according to data released by the company. COFCO Corporation has become one of the largest exporters and processors of corn, soybeans and raw sugar in Brazil.

The Macau Chief Executive will visit Portugal, Luxembourg and Brussels between the 18th and 27th of April and will be in Portugal until the 22nd of April, with meetings planned with the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho.

On the 9th of April, the governor of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues, visited two production lines of the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD. The first, in the city of Hangzhou, produces 100% electric buses, and the second, in the city of Chengzhou, produces passenger cars with the same technology.

The 2022/23 crop of Brazilian cotton will arrive in the Chinese market with a novelty. Part of the bales shipped will have already been certified by the Brazilian Cotton Quality Program, developed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock (Mapa) in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Producers of Cotton (Abrapa). The news was welcomed by Chinese industrialists and officials.

On the 13th of April, the President Lula da Silva visited the research and development center of the technology company Huawei in Shanghai, which has operated in Brazil for 25 years.

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) signed on the 12th of April, in Beijing, a cooperation agreement in science and technology with the Chinese institution CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Emerging Infectious Diseases (CEEID).

The Mayor of Ponta Delgada, Pedro Nascimento Cabral, was present at the founding ceremony of the first Association of the Chinese Community in the Azores, “a historic moment for Ponta Delgada, for the Azores and for Portugal, which will allow the internationalization of the economy, culture and knowledge”.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Brazil announced the success of its first international renminbi settlement transaction, marking a significant step forward for the bank’s international RMB business in the Brazilian market.