Brazilian tax authorities have imposed a fine of 813 million reais (USD 15o million) on Chinese state-owned group Sociedade de Alta Tecnologia Agrícola de Yuan Longping, which denies irregularities.
In a statement sent to the Shenzhen stock exchange, in southern China, Longping explained that the fine imposed by the Special Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil is linked to a deal made in 2017.
Longping rejected having broken laws and regulations and said it had hired Brazilian tax lawyers and had already submitted a request to the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service to review the decision and the application of the fine.
LongPing High-Tech to quintuple seed production capacity in Brazil
Longping is controlled by CITIC Group Corp, a Chinese state-owned conglomerate that in 2017 bought the corn seed production operations in Brazil from the US-based DowDuPont Inc for USD 1.1 billion.
The Brazilian tax authorities decided that the deal generated capital gains for several subsidiaries in Luxembourg and in Brazil of the Chinese agricultural company, and the tax set by law was never collected.
At the time, the company told the press that the next step would be to enter the soybean seed business, by opening research centers to develop new varieties.
Chinese seed company LongPing High-Tech investing USD 100 million to grow in Brazil
In May 2021, Longping announced the creation of a research base for new soybean varieties, at the headquarters of the Brazilian subsidiary of the Chinese group, in Jardinópolis, in the state of São Paulo.
The Chinese group has also had hybrid rice plantation projects in Timor-Leste since 2008, including in the Agricultural Industry Development Zone in Natarbora, in the south of the country.
In 2016, Longping, based in Hunan, southern China, also created a fish and shrimp breeding project in coastal marine waters in Timor-Leste.
CITIC is also present in the civil construction sector in Angola and Mozambique. The Chinese conglomerate also owns a factory for the production of aluminum profiles in the Industrial Complex of Viana, on the outskirts of Luanda.
