Flying over the southern Brazilian coastline in 2014, Ning Gaoning saw the future. From his airplane window, the chairman of Chinese trader Cofco Corp. spotted scores of trucks and trains laden with agricultural products — all headed to the port of Santos.
Ning, who also goes by his English name Frank, realized then, he later wrote in his memoir, that his company needed to own a piece of South America’s largest port. It would catapult the state-run group into the upper ranks of agricultural traders, he hoped.