In a politically-divided country, even opposition media outlets praised the multi-billion dollar trade agreements, which for the first time were peppered with the term “renewable power”.

Although the main logic behind the deal mirrors the Asian giant’s traditional geopolitical ambitions with its commercial agreements – in which China wants oil, minerals and agricultural commodities and offers to supply much-needed manufactured goods and financing – renewable power was cited no less than 10 times in the public version of the deals published by Brazil's foreign ministry.

That