Good morning! We’re covering Jair Bolsonaro’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The financial recovery of mining giant Vale. And the suspense of the Supreme Court’s “trial of the year.” (This newsletter is for platinum subscribers only. Become one now!)
Bolsonaro meets Xi
President Jair Bolsonaro meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping today in a much-anticipated encounter after some diplomatic bumps between the two countries. Greeted with grandeur, Mr. Bolsonaro has changed his tune when it comes to the Asian power. At a forum in Beijing, he said: “[China and Brazil] were born to walk together. I now shake President Xi’s hand as a sign that our governments are completely aligned, in a way that reaches beyond our commercial and business relationship.”
Why it matters. The Brazilian economy has never been so dependent on China. It is Brazil’s main partner (both for imports and exports) and is a leader in foreign investments.
Visa exemptions. Mr. Bolsonaro announced future visa exemptions for Chinese tourists as a strategy to boost tourism. Per the China Tourism Academy, Chinese tourists made 149 million trips overseas in 2018—spending roughly USD 130 billion. Brazil has finally seen that China is the future of global tourism,...