Brazil has decided to opt out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the second country after India in Brics to not support the multi-billion-dollar project.
Brazil, headed by President Lula da Silva, will not join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and instead seek alternative ways to collaborate with Chinese investors, Celso Amorim, special presidential adviser for international affairs, said on Monday, as reported by South China Morning Post.
Amorim said that the goal is to leverage elements of the Belt and Road framework to create “synergy” between Brazil’s infrastructure projects and the investment funds linked to the initiative, all while not officially joining the group.
Brazil wants to “take the relationship with China to a new level, without having to sign an accession contract”, he told Brazilian newspaper O Globo, adding, “We are not entering into a treaty.”
The decision contradicts China’s plans to highlight Brazil’s participation in the initiative during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brasilia on November 20.
Officials from Brazil’s economy and foreign affairs ministries have recently expressed opposition to the idea, believing that joining China’s flagship infrastructure project would not yield immediate benefits and could complicate relations with a potential Trump administration.
Last week, Amorim and President Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, traveled to Beijing to discuss the initiative but returned “unconvinced and unimpressed” by China’s proposals, according to sources.
India was the first country to express reservations about BRI, firmly opposing this key project of Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at expanding China’s global influence through infrastructure investments.
India has protested against the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship BRI project that runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, arguing it violates its sovereignty.