Brazil and China sign 35 cooperation agreements

Brazil and China signed 35 cooperation agreements in eight sectors involving investments of USD53 billion, during an official visit by the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Brasilia, according to the Brazilian press.
With oil company Petrobras alone China signed three cooperation agreements involving at least $7 billion at an event attended by President Dilma Rousseff and the Chinese Prime Minister, following an earlier meeting at the Presidential Palace.
The three agreements with Petrobras, one of them signed by the chairman of the oil company, Aldemir Bendine, and the President of the China Development Bank, Hu Huaibang are worth a total of $5 billion. Another agreement, also signed by Bendine and the President of the Export Import Bank (ExIm) of China, involves $2 billion.
Of the 35 agreements signed between the two countries, one worth mentioning relates to preparation of feasibility studies for a transcontinental railway project, which is intended to build a railway linking Brazil to Peru and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Other agreements provide for construction of the metallurgical complex of Maranhão, financing for the purchase of 40 aircraft from Embraer by China, cooperation in nuclear technology and creation of the automobile hub of Jacarei, in São Paulo as well as another related to funding for building 14 400,000-ton ships to transport iron ore.
Brazil, which in 2014 exported products worth over $51.9 billion to China, has soy as its main source of business, with a total of US$16.6 billion exported in 2014, according to figures from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Iron ore accounted for US12.3 billion, followed by oil ($3.5 billion), cellulose ($1.4 billion) and sugar ($880 million).
After Brazil, Li Keqiang is due to visit Colombia, Peru and Chile, where he is also due to sign a number of agreements related to investment projects. MDT/Macauhub