The China Signal - April 30
Taiwan steps up support for Paraguay, major solar project in Brazil, OPPO enters Chile and Colombia
G’day, and welcome to The China Signal! It was lovely to receive some nice notes from many of you on the birth of our twins - thank you! Thomas is out of hospital, and is reunited at home with his sister Matilda.
This week, Taiwan step’s up its support for Paraguay to acquire covid-19 vaccines from India; while Paraguay’s politicians debate opening a commercial office in Mainland China; inter-parliamentary and inter-judicial exchanges in Venezuela and Bolivia; a major solar power project announced in Brazil with China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC); OPPO enters Chile and Colombia’s smartphone market, plus more. Read on.
Vaccine Diplomacy
Paraguay 🇵🇾
MOU revision to help Paraguay buy Indian vaccines - Taipei Times - April 26, 2021
Taiwan would provide financing for Paraguay, its South American ally, to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from India, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Saturday.
Taipei has agreed to revise a 2018 memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Paraguay, one of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic allies and its only one in South America, to help it fight the pandemic, the ministry said.
The MOU change would provide Asuncion with US$16.50 million to purchase 2 million doses of the Covaxin vaccine from India-based Bharat Biotech.
Diplomacy
Paraguay 🇵🇾
~Paraphrased Translation~
The proposal to open a commercial office in Mainland China will be debated in the committees of the Chamber of Deputies. The draft declaration was presented by deputies Sebastián García, Carlos Núñez Salinas, Arnaldo Samaniego and Avelino Dávalos.
The Commission on Industry, Commerce, Tourism and Cooperativism, together with the Foreign Relations Commission, will be receiving the National Chancellor, Euclides Acevedo, and the Chinese Taiwan Ambassador, José Chih-Cheng Han, to analyze this proposal. The meeting will be held in the Comuneros Room tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.
La propuesta de apertura de una oficina comercial en China Continental será debatida en las comisiones de la Cámara de Diputados. El proyecto de declaración fue presentado por los diputados Sebastián García, Carlos Núñez Salinas, Arnaldo Samaniego y Avelino Dávalos.
La Comisión de Industria, Comercio, Turismo y Cooperativismo, en conjunto con la de Relaciones Exteriores estarán recibiendo al canciller nacional, Euclides Acevedo, y al embajador de China Taiwán, José Chih-Cheng Han, para lograr analizar esta propuesta. La reunión se realizará en el Salón Comuneros mañana a las 16:00.
Note that this isn’t the first time a commercial office has been proposed. La Nación reported a similar proposal in November 2019.
Venezuela 🇻🇪
Parlamentarios acuerdan crear grupo de amistad Venezuela-China | Noticias | teleSUR - April 27, 2021
~Paraphrased Translation~
The president of the National Assembly (AN) of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, held on Tuesday a meeting by videoconference with the president of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, Li Zhanshu, in which they agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between both legislative bodies.
Both parliamentarians addressed the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic during their meeting. In this regard, Venezuela thanked the solidarity of the People's Republic of China, which has sent nine shipments of medicines and medical supplies to the Bolivarian nation.
Rodríguez and Zhanshu also referred to the future formation of the Venezuela-China Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group to strengthen the momentum of a multipolar and multicenter world.
El presidente de la Asamblea Nacional (AN) de Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, sostuvo este martes un encuentro por videoconferencia con el presidente del Comité Permanente de la Asamblea Popular Nacional de la República Popular China, Li Zhanshu, en el cual acordaron fortalecer los intercambios y la cooperación entre ambos órganos legislativos.
Ambos parlamentarios abordaron durante su reunión la lucha contra la pandemia de COVID-19. En este aspecto, Venezuela agradeció la solidaridad de la República Popular China, que ha enviado a la nación bolivariana nueve cargamentos con medicinas e insumos médicos.
Rodríguez y Zhanshu también se refirieron a la futura conformación del Grupo de Amistad Interparlamentario Venezuela-China para afianzar el impulso de un mundo pluripolar y multicéntrico.
Bolivia 🇧🇴
“Bolivia and China promote alliance in the judicial sphere”
Bolivia y China promueven alianzas en ámbito judicial - April 28, 2021
~Paraphrased translation~
The presidents of the Bolivian and Chinese courts of justice, Olvis Egüez and Zhou Qiang held a meeting last night via videoconference to strengthen ties in the computerization and digitization of the judicial service.
The presidents of the high courts of justice of both countries referred to the progress in digitization, in which the Asian country showed considerable progress in the implementation of smart courts.
Los presidentes de los tribunales de justicia de Bolivia y de China, Olvis Egüez y Zhou Qiang, respectivamente, sostuvieron anoche una reunión mediante videoconferencia para fortalecer los lazos de intercambio y cooperación en los procesos de informatización y digitalización del servicio judicial.
Los presidentes de los altos tribunales de justicia de ambos países se refirieron a la situación de la justicia, los avances en cuanto a la digitalización, en la que el país asiático mostró un adelanto considerable en la implementación de los juzgados inteligentes…
Infrastructure
Bolivia 🇧🇴
~Paraphrased Translation~
“Sinohydro: Construction of the new El Sillar section is 59% complete”
The new section of the highway that crosses the El Sillar area, between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, is almost 60% complete, according to Sinohydro, who is in charge of the project’s execution.
The document indicates that Sinohydro was the first Chinese company to resume works in Bolivia, "thanks to the adoption of strict control and biosafety measures to protect the health of Bolivian and Chinese workers."
The project, one of the most important of all those carried out in the country, has a length of approximately 30 kilometers ...
El nuevo tramo de la carretera que atraviesa la zona de El Sillar, entre Cochabamba y Santa Cruz, lleva casi un 60% de avance, pese a las dificultades de la pandemia, informó en un comunicado la empresa china Sinohydro que tiene a su cargo la ejecución del proyecto.
El documento señala que Sinohydro fue la primera empresa china en reanudar obras en Bolivia, “gracias a que se adoptaron medidas de control y bioseguridad estrictas para proteger la salud de los trabajadores bolivianos y chinos”.
La carretera El Sillar, ubicada en el Chapare, forma parte de la Ruta Nacional N4, que conecta los departamentos de Santa Cruz y Cochabamba, y del corredor internacional que atraviesa de este a oeste Sudamérica.
El proyecto, uno de los de mayor relevancia de cuantos se ejecutan en el país, tiene una longitud de aproximadamente 30 kilómetros…
Deals and Investments
Brazil 🇧🇷
China Development Integration Limited ("CDIL") and China Machinery Engineering Corporation ("CMEC") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a development agreement in relation to the EPC+F (engineering, procurement, construction + financing) of a 1100MW photovoltaic project in Port Açu and additional locations in Brazil.
The 1100MW photovoltaic project was originated by Mr. Eike Batista, a well-known Brazilian natural resources and energy entrepreneur and will be developed by CDIL's subsidiary China-Brazil Integration Group Limited via a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Brazil.
The project's total scale is 1100MW and the project is expected to be constructed in stages. The first phase of 300MW will cover an area of 6.6 million sq.m. whilst the second phase of 800MW will be located in 4 blocks with total area of about 11 million sq.m.
Total investment of the project is estimated to be around US$1 billion in the form of EPC+F and additional Equity funds mainly from China.
"CMEC is very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this milestone clean energy project in Brazil," said Prof Liu Cansheng, the Senior Engineer and General Manager Counsellor of CMEC. "This is the first of a series of projects we are going to jointly execute with CDIL and Mr Batista."
Batista certainly is a colourful character, as this (opinionated) article details. I’ll be keeping an eye out for further details on the project’s timeline, if it does come into fruition.
Broader Latin America 🏔🏝
This is a nice overview of China’s investment into energy grids in the region, a theme which I covered in detail in TCS January 29 over China Yangtze’s bid to expand their ownership of Peru’s Luz del Sur.
OPINION: China’s firms gain a foothold in South America as energy providers - April 28, 2021
SOE energy grid investments in South America do not yet include any greenfield projects. They are all acquisitions.
Telecommunications
Chile 🇨🇱 + Colombia 🇨🇴
OPPO expands its business to Chile and Colombia - Gizmochina - April 30, 2021
The company has been expanding its footprint globally and has announced that it has entered two new markets — Chile and Colombia. OPPO had entered the Latin America market last year, starting with the Mexican market.
As the article notes, OPPO is the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer globally, behind Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi. I shared some more colour on China’s growth into Latin America’s smartphone market in TCS March 12.