LASA/EANLAS: Rethinking Trans-Pacific Ties: Asia and Latin America

Surface transportation and relations between Brazil and China

• In Event: Relations between Brazil and China in the context of climate change

Abstract

This paper deals with surface transportation and port infrastructure in Brazil, as related to economic relations between Brazil and China. The continental size of Brazil means that most of the goods the country exports must travel long distances before being shipped to their final destinations. It is widely recognized that the condition of the Brazilian surface transport infrastructure leaves much to be desired, a result of decades of neglect and of the economic crises experienced by the country in the last ten years. In addition to this situation, land links between Brazil and the rest of South America, in particular the Pacific Coast, which would be useful for exports originating in the Center West region of the country, are in an even worse condition. On the other hand, China has been busy developing several land and sea corridors to facilitate trade as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. These transportation links connect China with Central, South and Southeast Asia, Russia, Western Europe, and Africa, replicating and expanding in a modern setting the ancient Silk Road. The paper makes the case for an extension of the Belt and Road Initiative creating a new South America corridor to sustain the increasing trade between China and Brazil and other South American countries. The New Development Bank (NDB), together with other regional and international development banks, would be instrumental in financing transportation projects.

Author

• Neantro Saavedra-Rivano, University of Brasilia