Brazil has reclaimed the top spot globally as the preferred destination for Chinese investment in 2025, according to data recently released by the Brazil-China Business Council (known by its Portuguese initials CEBC). The nation attracted 10.9 percent of total outbound Chinese capital, or US$6.1 billion in Chinese investment across dozens of projects, Reuters reported.
The sum represents a 45 percent increase in capital compared to 2024. Chinese corporations are working to diversify their foothold in Latin America’s largest economy, specifically focusing on its clean energy and mining sectors. The CEBC noted that Brazil has historically been in the top five investors over the past five years, having last claimed the top position in 2021.
Key factors attracting Chinese investors include Brazil’s weaker currency, large consumer market, abundant natural resources, and clean energy. Tulio Cariello, content and research director at the CEBC, commented that, “There are only a few countries in the world today that have all these characteristics.”
While the electricity sector remains the largest recipient of Chinese capital, mining has experienced a notable resurgence, with investments tripling in 2025.
[See more: Chinese technology giant Huawei pushes green energy transition in Brazil]
The automotive sector also proved prominent, ranking third overall and accounting for 15.8 percent of the total Chinese corporate investment in the country. This growth has been supported by firms like GWM and BYD, which have purchased former factories from Western automakers and converted them into production hubs for electric and hybrid vehicles, leading to explosive sales growth.
Chinese capital has also expanded across several other sectors, including information technology, logistics, electronics manufacturing, digital economy services, and fast food. In electronics appliances, fresh investment in 2025 included Vivo Mobile launching its Jovi smartphone brand. Andre Varga, Jovi’s product director, stated in a March interview that Brazil is a “long-term strategic priority for Jovi,” viewing it as a “market with great potential, still concentrated among a few players, which offers us an opportunity to create differentiation and add value to the consumer.”
Looking ahead, the CEBC suggests that Chinese investments in Brazil will continue to be shaped by internal policies, particularly those concerning the energy transition, and external factors, such as geopolitical tensions and the global push for decarbonisation.
Cariello projects the continuation of these projects, specifically betting on “an intensification in the mining sector, in the area of new energies, and also in the industrial sector in general, where we have seen considerable growth.”
