As Brazil rolls out a visa-free regime for Chinese passport holders, observers see the move as going beyond tourism. It is a catalyst for China’s already flourishing investment in the Latin American powerhouse.
Brazil has become a major destination for Chinese companies since the country’s heated wave of going overseas, or “chuhai” (出海), from traditional manufacturing and electric vehicles to tech companies, and with the visa-free policy, more opportunities are emerging – especially for small- to medium-sized companies.
“For small teams and young entrepreneurs with limited budgets and low risk tolerance, the greatest fear in going overseas is making a blind bet. The visa-free policy speaks directly to this core pain point by lowering the barrier to first-hand market understanding before committing significant investment,” WeChat account 翰林院66, wrote.
For Chinese passport holders, a Brazilian visa was long regarded as one of the most difficult to obtain. The cumbersome procedures often caused investors to miss critical market windows. Now, at least on the efficiency front, that obstacle has been removed.
To Chinese companies already established in Brazil, it also provides a far smoother channel to scale up and deepen their presence.
“Engineers, investment managers, and supply-chain teams can now move freely,” wrote by Wechat official account 贸腾国际物流.
The article also added that Brazil’s visa-free policy may only be a starting point, in the future, other Latin American countries, such as Peru, Chile, Uruguay, will follow suit.
Uruguay President Yamandu Orsi arrived in Beijing last week for a state-visit and met with Xi Jinping. A visa-free regime could be on the agenda.
Brazil ranks at the forefront of China’s chuhai wave, drawing in long-established home appliance makers such as Midea, Hisense and Gree. In recent years, a new cohort of Chinese tech and EV firms – from Meituan to Didi and BYD – has further intensified the game.
But that does not mean Chinese companies are not facing challenges. A key one would be the labour rights, last year, Brazil sued BYD over “slave-like” conditions of its Chinese employees.
Long, often costly journeys have been another deterrent for would-be market explorers. With almost no direct flights between the two countries, tickets can easily exceed US$1,000 and travel times stretch beyond 40 hours, CGSP found.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? In the post-COVID era, “going overseas” or “chuhai” has become a crucial feature of China’s economy amid a sluggish domestic consumption outlook. Brazil is in no doubt at the centre of the show. Tracking Brazilian policies tied to China’s “going overseas” wave matters not only for what they signal about China’s economic trajectory, but also for how Beijing engages the so-called “Western Hemisphere”, a concept currently high on the White House agenda.
