Could China solve São Paulo’s infra problems?

About 1,500 infrastructure projects, with a total budget of 49.5bn reais (US$12.56bn), are completely or partially paralyzed in São Paulo, the state’s account court, TCE, found.

The largest delayed projects are in urban mobility and include new metro line No. 6; works on lines No. 2, No. 4, No. 15, and No. 17. Most delays result from tight public budgets and poor planning.

CHINESE SUPPORT

The TCE figures came in the same week as governor João Doria is leading a delegation of government representatives and business leaders to China to attract more investments.

This effort has already yielded results.

China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) signaled interest in railway projects like the São Paulo-Campinas line, called Trem Intercidades (TIC), and metro line No. 6, which was suspended due to lack of funds.

“We are very pleased with the first day of our mission to China. We participated in important and promising meetings for São Paulo. One of these was with Mr. Chen FengJian, chairman of the CRCC group, one of the largest railway construction groups in China, when we could present our privatization and infrastructure project,” said Doria.

RIVER CLEANUP

The Chinese group also showed interest in works to clean up Pinheiros and Tietê rivers, which are São Paulo city’s most important waterways.

Previous state administrations implemented similar cleanup initiatives, but without tangible results.

State water utility Sabesp is responsible for cleaning up the rivers and plans to be finished by 2022.

BANK OF CHINA MOU

During the visit, Doria will also open an office of state investment promotion agency InvestSP in Shanghai.

On Monday, InvestSP signed an agreement with Bank of China to promote investments and strengthen economic ties between China and the Brazilian state. 

“This agreement will allow trade relations between China and the state of São Paulo to be strengthened. The idea is that both InvestSP and Bank of China will identify companies with potential for business generation and investment in China and São Paulo, allowing a connection between them. The inauguration of InvestSP's Shanghai office next Friday is one of the first practical steps of this deal,” InvestSP head Wilson Mello said.