Despite China Being Brazil's Largest Buyer, 40,000 Brazilian Companies Import From There, Compared to Fewer Than 3,000 That Export, Revealing Huge Imbalance in Trade

Despite China Being Brazil’s Largest Buyer, 40,000 Brazilian Companies Import From There, Compared to Fewer Than 3,000 That Export, Revealing Huge Imbalance in Trade

Written by Maria Heloisa Barbosa Borges

Published on 11/09/2025 at 00:59

Updated on 12/09/2025 at 19:24

Levantamento mostra que a China, maior compradora do Brasil, concentra as exportações em três commodities e expõe desequilíbrio na participação das empresas brasileiras no comércio bilateral.

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China Concentrates Unequal Trade With Brazil: 40 Thousand Companies Import, Less Than 3 Thousand Export, and 75% of Sales Are Soybeans, Ore, and Oil.

A study by the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) in partnership with the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) revealed a worrying fact: although China is the largest destination for Brazilian exports, the number of companies importing from the country is nearly ten times greater than those that manage to sell there.

According to the survey, 40,059 Brazilian companies imported from China in 2024, while less than 3 thousand exported.

This discrepancy reveals a structural pattern of dependence and shows that Brazil still cannot occupy a space proportional to the weight of the Chinese market.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Mass Imports, Concentrated Exports

According to the portal Terra, the growth of Chinese imports is impressive: since the year 2000, the number of companies bringing products from China to Brazil has increased 11 times.

The Chinese supply everything from electronics and industrial machines to textiles and various inputs, forming a broad and diverse basket.

On the other hand, Brazilian exports to China have quadrupled in number of companies since 2000, but still remain highly concentrated.

Soybeans, iron ore, and oil represented 75% of Brazilian sales to China in 2024, highlighting the strong dependence on commodities.

Comparison With Other Partners

The contrast becomes even clearer when observing other markets. Mercosur had 11.7 thousand Brazilian exporters, the United States had 9.6 thousand, and the European Union had 8.6 thousand.

These blocs buy less in absolute values than China, but offer a more balanced space for different sectors and companies.

Despite this, there are signs of diversification: in 1997, Brazil exported 673 different items to China; in 2024, the number increased to 2.5 thousand products, according to the common nomenclature of Mercosur. Nevertheless, commodities continue to dominate trade flows.

Strategic Challenge for Brazil

In the presentation of the study, the Foreign Trade Secretary, Tatiana Prazeres, emphasized that China continues to offer opportunities, but that Brazil needs public policies capable of expanding the export base:

“More companies, more regions, and more workers need to benefit from the opportunities in the Chinese market, which are still growing.”

The major Brazilian challenge is to break the dependence on a few products and increase the participation of small and medium enterprises in trade with China.

Without this, the country remains a supplier of raw materials and an importer of technology and manufactured goods, in a relationship that generates surplus but maintains vulnerabilities.

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Do you think Brazil should invest more in diversification to reduce dependence on China? Or is focusing on commodities still the best strategy?

Leave your opinion in the comments.

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Galo

#175442

15/09/2025 20:44

Do jeito que vai daqui a pouco Brasil será um satélite da China É absurdo

-1

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Tarcísio

#174978

14/09/2025 22:39

É lamentável ver e ouvir tanta “disputa” entre ideologias que não constroem a nosso favor. Essa ganância e esse egoísmo nos prejudicam enormemente. Temos que focar, cada um em si mesmo, e ser individualistas para crescermos como uma coletividade. Só podemos ser fortes se nos unirmos, independentemente se esquerda ou direita, para crescer como nação. A vida parece um jogo, mas não é futebol, não adianta torcer por um time que não joga para o coletivo, para a equipe. O TIME. O nosso time, antes de ser humano, deve ser verdadeiramente brasileiro. Esqueçamos o ódio que implantaram nas nossas mentes através da mídia. Busquemos a verdade acima de tudo.
Amanhã, nossos filhos, netos, bisnetos estarão aqui, o que deixaremos a eles? Covardia ou resistência? Pense nisso!!

-1

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Moa

#174518

14/09/2025 08:04

Respondendo à pergunta. Sim, o brasil deve na mais que nunca investir na sua indústria e tecnologia. Ao invés de exportar matéria prima, vender o produto industrializado, seja qual segmento for, principalmente na área de energia. Refinar o petróleo. Mas em contra medida, manter o comércio bilateral a todo vapor, e quando tiver tecnologia para industrializar, focar nessa evolução

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Despite China Being Brazil’s Largest Buyer, 40,000 Brazilian Companies Import From There, Compared to Fewer Than 3,000 That Export, Revealing Huge Imbalance in Trade

China Concentrates Unequal Trade With Brazil: 40 Thousand Companies Import, Less Than 3 Thousand Export, and 75% of Sales Are Soybeans, Ore, and Oil.

Mass Imports, Concentrated Exports

Comparison With Other Partners

Strategic Challenge for Brazil

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Despite China Being Brazil’s Largest Buyer, 40,000 Brazilian Companies Import From There, Compared to Fewer Than 3,000 That Export, Revealing Huge Imbalance in Trade

China Concentrates Unequal Trade With Brazil: 40 Thousand Companies Import, Less Than 3 Thousand Export, and 75% of Sales Are Soybeans, Ore, and Oil.

Mass Imports, Concentrated Exports

Comparison With Other Partners

Strategic Challenge for Brazil

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Norway is drilling 27 kilometers of rock 392 meters below the bottom of a fjord to build the world’s largest and deepest underwater road tunnel — when completed, a 21-hour journey will be reduced to 10.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

An astronaut spent 340 days in space while his twin brother stayed on Earth, and NASA found a “rejuvenating” effect, genes, microbiome, cognition, and immune system that revealed the biological cost of living outside the planet.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

China has just successfully tested the world’s first ground effect maritime vehicle, a craft that flies up to 6 meters above the water at 200 km/h, uses quantum technology and 6G communication, and can rescue patients in the middle of the ocean.

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