China is foreign policy priority: Rousseff
January 3, 2015, 7:10 am

Rousseff with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao during a bilateral meeting at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on 2nd January 2015 [Image: Itamaraty]

Rousseff said the choice of Shanghai as the headquarters of the BRICS Bank is “positive”.

Leaders of the five BRICS nations agreed on the structure of a $100 billion development bank by granting China its headquarters earlier this year in Brazil during the 6^th BRICS Summit.

The Latin American economy is eyeing Chinese investment in oil and gas, new energy, satellite and information technology, Rousseff has said.

“The comprehensive strategic partnership with China will be meted out priority treatment during the second term of President Dilma” said an official statement on the Brazilian government website.

In her meeting on Friday with the Chinese Vice President, Rousseff said she was pleased and “satisfied with the interest of Chinese companies to invest in railways in Brazil and considered “promising” the Brazil-Peru-China dialogue on the viability of the Transcontinental railroad”, added the statement.

Amongst the deals inked this summer between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Rousseff were some infrastructure investments by China, most significantly a railway spanning the continent from Brazil’s Atlantic coast to Peru’s pacific ports, which woud significantly reduce the costs and time required for Brazil to ship raw commodities to China.

Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao indicated “the willingness of China to expand imports of manufactured goods from Brazil and pledged to speed up the process of standardization for Brazilian beef exports to China” said the official statement.

Chinese Vice President Li also reported on China lifting a ban on Chinese imports of Brazilian corn.

China’s lifting of a ban on imports of a genetically modified strain of corn and corn byproduct is welcome news for the world’s major growers of corn, led by Brazil.

Meanwhile, Rousseff on Friday also stressed on Sino-Brazilian ties being boosted by “holding the Fourth Meeting of the Sino-Brazilian Coordination and Cooperation Commission in 2015 in Brazil, as well as the Second Global Strategic Dialogue meeting between the two Foreign Ministers in China”, said the statement.

Rousseff also lauded the launch of the CBERS-4 satellite, jointly developed by China and Brazil, earlier this month, which she said “opened a new chapter in the high-technology collaboration for the aerospace area between the two countries”.

Earlier this year Xi and Rousseff signed 32 agreements in commerce, education, civil aviation and energy, including a deal that will see Brazilian company Embraer sell 60 E-190 jets to China.

China is Brazil’s biggest trade partner, with bilateral trade between the two reaching $83.3 billion, up 10 per cent in 2012, and expected to exceed $90 billion this year.

TBP