Margaret Myers, director of the Asia & Latin America Program at the Inter-American Dialogue: “There are several possible explanations for the drop this year in Chinese investment in Brazil. One, as noted, was the relative spike in Chinese investment in 2021, making this year’s transactions seem more underwhelming than they perhaps are. China may also have been reluctant to explore and start new projects during an election year in Brazil, and a critical one at that. But in Latin America, it’s relatively common to see ebbs and flows in foreign direct investment, whether greenfield or mergers and acquisitions. This includes at the country level, as some Chinese companies invest heavily in projects and then wait for some progress or returns on investments before beginning new large-scale ventures. It should also be said that across the region, we’ve seen some indications of a tapering of Chinese investment and finance. This may be temporary—related to Covid-19—but is likely driven by…”