Chinese companies invested over US$2.76 billion in Brazil last year, 75.5 percent less than the year before, the Brazilian government says.

A document published by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management says Chinese companies put over US$2.58 billion of the money they invested last year into buying or merging with Brazilian companies.

The document says one of four big Chinese investments in Brazil in the last four months of 2018 was the US$180 million purchase by Chinese technology company Tencent Holdings Ltd of 5 percent of Brazilian financial technology company Nu Pagamentos SA (Nubank).

Another was the US$1.06 billion purchase by Chinese state-owned utility China State Grid Corp. of that part of Brazilian electricity producer CPFL Energias Renováveis SA that it did not already own, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management says.