Lessons from Brazil: the art of hedging Chinese investment

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.chinesewhispers.ukMy guest Andrew Cainey is a long-time advisor to businesses and governments across the world on how to deal with China. He is a senior associate fellow at the thinktank, RUSI, and co-author of Xiconomics: What China’s Dual Circulation Strategy Means for Global Business.On this episode we discuss a new trend that Andrew has been following – the rise of Chinese consumer companies making their way into the developing world. To make that question just a bit smaller, we focused in particular on Brazil, a country he spends a lot of time in. It actually has a trade surplus with China, but even so Chinese investment brings its own tensions and problems, such as what happens when Chinese factory owners bring their exploitative working practices with them.In light of recent discussions in the EU about the ‘China Shock 2.0’, I found this an illuminating conversation to consider how one developing country deals with the challenge from Chinese investment. It also raises the question of whether the West could learn something from how Brazil hedges between the great powers.On the episode I mention two documentaries that really add substance to the experience of Chinese factories going abroad. One is American Factory (2019) and the other is Made in Ethiopia (2024). I’d highly recommend both.Chinese Whispers with Cindy Yu is listener-supported.Not yet a subscriber?Become a paid subscriber to unlock the full episode and all premium episodes:Subscribe nowAlready a paid subscriber?Set up premium listening in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app. Click the button below, scroll down the page to ‘Private podcasts’ and click ‘Set up’.Set up podcast