The plan to build Latin America’s biggest Chinatown in São Paulo

On January 25, São Paulo honors the anniversary of its foundation. In 2020, however, another celebration will take place in several parts of the city: Chinese New Year. Commemorations will be spread in areas across the city center, in neighborhoods such as the wealthy area of Pinheiros, and the East Asian—predominantly Japanese—district of Liberdade. In a few years, however, some Chinese entrepreneurs are hoping the festivities will take place in São Paulo’s very own Chinatown.

The project is led by the Brazil-China Socio-Cultural Institute (Ibrachina). Its initial phase—estimated to cost some BRL 150 million—would consist of installing Chinese-themed lamp posts, trash cans, and 9-meter-high porticos. A second phase would include a suspended walkway, a park, a theater, and a museum—among other cultural attractions.

According to lawyer Thomas Law, Ibrachina’s chairman, the Brazilian Chinatown would be a way to revitalize one of the most degraded areas of São Paulo’s city center—a portion close to the iconic Municipal Market and Rua 25 de Março, the biggest commercial street in Brazil. Home to a huge concentration of Chinese immigrants, the area is bordered by the historic center to one side, and São Paulo’s infamous Crackland on the other. 

“About 90 percent of the 300,000 Chinese people living in Brazil are in the city of São Paulo,” Mr. Law told The...