A Chinese property development consortium’s pledge to invest nine trillion Brazilian real (approximately US$1.85 trillion) in a new “smart” city in Brazil, has sparked excitement in the country – as well as scepticism.
That’s not a typo. The investment, nearly equivalent to Brazil’s 2022 gross domestic product of US$1.92 trillion, is allegedly targeted for Mataraca, a town in the northeastern state of Paraiba with a population of just 8,000.
Brasil CRT, a joint venture between Brazilian and Chinese interests based in the state of Minas Gerais – almost 2,200km (1,367 miles) from Mataraca – announced the project last week.
Plans for the smart city, which would span more than 27,000 acres, include residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, leisure facilities, educational institutions, hospitals, a stadium and an “offshore” style harbour. The company said that it would accommodate 250,000 residents and draw up to 1 million tourists annually.
Jurandi Calaciano, Mataraca’s public works secretary, said that discussions with the consortium have been extensive.
“We had been talking to them about it for over three years, but we only met them in person last week when they visited the town,” Calaciano said.
The “smart city” project garnered widespread media attention in Brazil and became a sensation online. It made front-page news across Paraiba’s leading newspapers and TV Paraiba, a Globo affiliate, Brazil’s top television network, covered the project’s public announcement, including an interview with Rudian Tchen, identified as a Chinese representative of Brasil CRT.
Speaking Portuguese, Tchen shared plans to extend the company’s reach to Bahia, another northeastern Brazilian state. Online, a video detailing the project amassed over 130,000 views in just two days.
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However, suspicions arose after the video of the project – allegedly developed by the Copenhagen-based design firm Henning Larsen – turned out to be a duplicate of a video showcasing the firm’s project in Shenzhen in China.
Following media reports casting doubt on the project’s legitimacy, Brazilian YouTubers posted numerous videos investigating the Chinese participants’ identities and the investment’s authenticity.
Further investigations by the South China Morning Post revealed other inconsistencies. The Chinese consulate in Recife found no records of Brasil CRT, and the Chinese embassy in Brasilia had not been contacted regarding the investment.
Wang Ke, the acting Chinese consul general in Recife, said he “has no information regarding this company or the project mentioned and has no contact” with Brasil CRT.
A spokesperson from Henning Larsen also denied any company involvement with the Chinese group.
Tchen could not be reached for comment.
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The Mataraca City Hall did not respond to several telephone and email inquiries. Speaking to the local press, Mayor Egberto Madruga said that he did not know about Shenzhen and that the Chinese involved in the Mataraca project had never mentioned the city in their proposal.
Public database searches indicate that Brasil CRT’s registered address is an unused parking lot, and its contact numbers are linked to an unrelated auditing firm.
In response to the controversy, Paraiba Governor Joao Azevedo Lins Filho cancelled a scheduled meeting this week with the Chinese group. The state press office and Chinese diplomatic missions have yet to identify the Chinese participants in the project.