Marcos Cordeiro Pires Photo: Courtesy of Pires

Over its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), China has delivered remarkable achievements in multiple domains, including public health, clean energy, electric and hybrid vehicles, information and communication technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, and space exploration. This success is also evident in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013, which has brought economic development and infrastructure building back strongly to the international agenda.

By prompting multilateral development banks to invest in the Global South - a region largely overlooked since the rise of neoliberal policies in the 1980s - the BRI has enabled countries previously excluded from the international financial system to attract vital funding. This has funded highways, railways, bridges, dams, airports, ports, telecommunications networks, and other critical infrastructure, yielding substantial economic and social benefits. Notable examples include the China-Laos railway, which has dramatically enhanced connectivity in Southeast Asia, and the Mombasa-Nairobi railway, which has transformed transportation in Kenya.

Building on these foundations, China's newly adopted 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) charts a bold path forward, calling for proactively opening China wider, promoting the innovative development of trade, creating greater space for two-way investment cooperation, and pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. This strategic evolution ensures that past successes in infrastructure and connectivity will continue to drive sustainable global partnerships.
 
The launch of the plan marks an event with broad global implications. Its qualitative and quantitative targets serve as important benchmarks for other economies, as political leaders and economists have learned that when the Chinese government plans its actions, they are implemented and influence the functioning of the global economy. As such, the plan's ripple effects extend far beyond China's borders, offering a blueprint for synchronized international progress.

The newly announced targets align closely with the overarching goal of pushing the country ahead on all fronts toward essentially achieving socialist modernization by 2035. By aiming to modernize industry and maintain a reasonable share of industry in GDP, China creates space for developing a high-quality services sector, which remains small compared to developed countries.

Meanwhile, the goal of "substantial improvements in scientific and technological self-reliance and strength" aims to ensure China's development is not hindered by deliberate actions from other countries seeking to constrain its policy choices. Indeed, science, technology, and innovation underpin cutting-edge industry, modern agriculture, and high-skilled services. With these pillars strengthened, China can more effectively contribute to global technological ecosystems, bridging gaps for partner nations.

By boosting development, raising per capita income, and addressing regional and income disparities, China is rapidly shifting toward a domestic market-driven growth model. More broadly, the policies outlined in the new Five-Year Plan are set to provide new momentum for future cooperation under the BRI framework, fostering deeper integration and shared prosperity across the Global South.  This internal transformation, in turn, amplifies the BRI's appeal as a model for equitable development elsewhere.

Inspired by China's example, economic development has again become a priority for the Global South. To realize this vision, however, it is essential to invest like China in industry and infrastructure to integrate technology and raise the value-added of domestic production. This approach requires moving beyond traditional economic theories that emphasize specialization based on comparative advantage, which prevents less developed countries from ever achieving income and welfare levels comparable to those of developed ones.

Meanwhile, by remaining open to the world and advancing innovation and corporate internationalization, China creates opportunities for other countries to adopt new technologies and attract investment into emerging industrial sectors. In Brazil, for instance, there is strong hope that partnership with China can spur a new wave of green industry investment, with integration into China's industrial production chains opening significant opportunities for both countries. These bilateral dynamics exemplify how China's global openness can catalyze region-specific breakthroughs in sustainable development.

In this context, China's presence has grown substantially over recent decades, making it South America's largest trading partner and providing greater economic stability for regional economies through its sustained demand. Complementing this, BRI investments, such as the Port of Chancay in Peru, are strengthening regional integration and creating new opportunities. The US views China-Latin America relations with suspicion, leading to Latin American countries being pressured to take sides in geopolitical disputes. However, governments in the region are striving to maintain balance and defend their legitimate interests.

It is undeniable that China remains an essential partner, offering a large consumer market, delivering productive investment, supporting Latin American interests in international organizations, and imposing no political conditions on partners. This is will help Latin America navigate turbulent times.

Amid these domestic advancements, the world is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, with positive aspects like technological advances from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and negative ones such as climate change, xenophobia, hunger, protectionism, and unilateralism. In this period of global order restructuring, Brazil-China relations are crucial for building more democratic and inclusive international governance.

Both countries participate in various multilateral forums, coordinate with other Global South nations, and advocate an open and integrated world where development is a shared asset. The upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP30), to be held in Brazil next month, will be an important opportunity to advance issues of global concern - including development, environmental balance, and a livable climate. Ultimately, Brazil and China bear significant responsibility for helping shape this New World.


The author is a professor at the Department of Political and Economic Sciences, São Paulo State University in Brazil.