Chinese consumer brands are becoming harder to avoid in Brazil, from electric cars and smartphones to food delivery and online shopping. Based on single-source reporting from Folha de S.Paulo, citing The Economist, Chinese companies invested at least $6 billion in the country in 2025, more than in any other foreign market.
The shift is visible on Brazilian roads and television screens. Geely, the Chinese electric-vehicle maker, hired television presenter Fernanda Lima, her husband Rodrigo Hilbert and their children as brand ambassadors as it tries to build recognition after entering Brazil last year. Chery hired actress Bruna Marquezine to promote premium SUVs, while BYD paid for its cars to appear in prime-time soap operas.
Beyond Imports
The new Chinese presence is not only about selling imported goods. Manufacturing investment has overtaken oil and mining in the latest wave of Chinese capital, according to the report. GWM began production in August at a former Mercedes-Benz plant. BYD opened a $1 billion factory in October on the site of a former Ford plant in Brazil’s northeast, its largest facility outside Asia.
Geely also bought a 26% stake in Renault Brazil, which already operates a plant in the country’s south. BYD and GWM were Brazil’s fastest-growing car brands last year, with Chery close behind.
Chinese groups are also looking at Brazil’s power system. The country’s first battery auction, scheduled for December, is expected to raise $1.5 billion in investments for storage cells that can hold surplus energy from solar panels and wind turbines and support data centers. BYD said on June 17 that the next phase of its Brazilian investments would focus on batteries.
Why Brazil Matters
Part of the appeal comes from geopolitics. As the United States and Europe raise trade barriers against Chinese goods, Brazil offers a large consumer market, abundant natural resources and a government that has kept close ties with Beijing. China has been Brazil’s largest trading partner since 2009, when it overtook the United States.
The pattern also reflects China’s changing priorities. In the early 2000s, Chinese companies invested in Latin America largely to secure natural resources. In the 2010s, they financed and built infrastructure as China exported excess steel. Now they are searching for markets where they can lead in high-technology sectors.
Brazilian consumers appear more open to that shift than in the past. A survey by the British consultancy Public First, cited in the report, found that about half of Brazilians believe China leads the world in artificial intelligence, compared with 39% who see the United States as the leader.
Political Risks
The closer relationship has also brought scrutiny. In 2024, Brazilian police rescued more than 160 Chinese workers who had been brought to build BYD’s factory in Bahia and were found living in poor accommodation and being underpaid, according to the report. BYD said it was unaware of the conditions, blamed a subcontractor and said the conduct had been corrected.
In April, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government was accused of dismissing a Labor Ministry official after BYD was included on a list of employers accused of subjecting workers to conditions analogous to slavery. The government said the dismissal was a routine personnel change.
The investment wave has continued despite Brazil’s presidential election scheduled for October. Hsia Sheng, of Fundação Getulio Vargas, told the report that private-sector momentum matters more than government politics in the relationship. That may complicate assumptions in Washington that a change in Brazil’s government would automatically weaken the country’s links with China.