Brazil and China relations: Brazil tightens relations with China

Chinese leader Xi Jinping was to host hosting Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Beijing this weekend, seeking to deepen ties with another diplomatic ally following his three-day visit to Russia that took place earlier this week.

The visit was postponed on Saturday as the Brazilian leader was admitted to hospital with pneumonia.

Had it gone ahead, the state visit would have come at a time when China is trying  to present itself as an important global power that can rival the US.

China's trade relationship with Brazil was set to take center stage, as Lula was to bring a delegation of 240 business representatives with him to Beijing. Trade flow between China and Brazil currently amounts to $150 billion (€140 billion) annually, and Brazilian exports to China reached $89 billion in 2022.

China now invests in a wide range of sectors in Brazil, and experts say Beijing wants to tap into the South American country's rich resources and market size.

Read more at: https://www.dw.com

USA: Congress Reaches Deal On New Coronavirus Small Business Loan Package

 After nearly two weeks of partisan blame games, Republicans and Democrats in Congress announced a deal on Tuesday that would replenish the new loan program for small businesses struggling from the coronavirus pandemic.

On top of $310 billion for small business loans, the tentative agreement would also provide $75 billion for hospitals, $60 billion for economic disaster loans, and $25 billion to expand coronavirus testing. Despite President Donald Trump’s claim that “anybody that wants a test can get a test,” the United States has continually lagged behind other countries in testing.
 

Democrats had insisted on getting more than just a replenishment of money for small businesses in this round of coronavirus relief, which lawmakers are calling “Phase 3.5.” The hospital funding, increased money for testing, and economic disaster loans were all important Democratic priorities.

Read more at: Congress Reaches Deal On New Coronavirus Small Business Loan Package | HuffPost

Euro expanding its global Reach: Possible Draghi successor wants to increase the euro’s global use

The Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, told a conference in Paris on 4 June that increasing the global use of the euro would bolster “European financial sovereignty”.

Villeroy de Galhau, who is a frontrunner to succeed Mario Draghi as the head of the European Central Bank in October. argued that since the2008 financial crisis and the 2012 Eurozone crisis. the international use of the euro as a major reserve currency has sharply declined.

More than 60% of global official reserves are held in US dollars. A key for the euro to emerge as a global currency that is on par with thepower of the greenback hinges on the creation of a safe asset similar to US Treasuries, an objective that provides a new impetus to the discussion for Eurobonds.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has repeatedly vowed to turn the euro into a global reserve currency by replacing the dollar with the single currency when concluding deals tiedmto energy imports.

Read more at: Possible Draghi successor wants to increase the euro’s global use