China’s Economic Diplomacy in the Context of the Far-Right Government’s Neoliberal Nationalism: The Case of Brazil’s Energy Sector

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the main foreign policy of China under Xi Jinping. BRI has changed from an international investment plan to a broader vision for China’s role in the international system in the twenty-first century. In Latin America, energy is the biggest sector for the destination of Chinese foreign direct investments (FDI), accounting for 51% of Chinese FDI between 2007 and 2018. The present article will focus on two study cases of FDI conducted by State Grid Corporation in Brazil: (1) the acquisition of CPFL Energy in 2017, a provider of energy operating in the most important economic region of Brazil; (2) the construction of two transmission lines connecting the Belo Monte Hydropower plant in Northern Brazil to the Southeastern states of Minas Gerais, Rio De Janeiro, and São Paulo. The main goal of this article is to view these cases within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in order to analyze China’s economic diplomacy and foreign policy in Brazil.