- Title: BRAZIL: Brazil and China sign bilateral agreements to boost trade
- Date: 16th April 2010
- Summary: ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** BRASILIA. BRAZIL (APRIL 15, 2010) (REUTERS) CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO AND BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA ARRIVING TO SIGN BILATERAL AGREEMENTS HU JINTAO AND LULA HAVING CONVERSATION GENERAL VIEW OF CHINESE AND BRAZILIAN OFFICIALS SIGNING BILATERAL AGREEMENTS VARIOUS OF BRAZIL'S FOREIGN MINISTER CELSO AMORIM AND CHINESE TRADE MINISTER YANG JIECHI REPORTERS IN NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF LULA AND HU JINTAO SIGNING BILATERAL AGREEMENTS LULA AND HU JINTAO SHAKING HANDS LULA AND HU JINTAO POSITIONED TO TALK TO MEDIA CLOSE OF HU JINTAO REPORTERS IN NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE PRESIDENT, HU JINTAO, SAYING: "Both China and Brazil are willing to increase strategic cooperation on international affairs and in multilateral institutions, to push for reform of the global financial system and positively strengthen cooperation on combating climate change to protect the shared interests of developing countries and together promote world peace and development." REPORTERS IN CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, SAYING: "We are building a strategic alliance between two great countries of the south. We have universal vocations and global interests. For that reason we have in our agendas common themes such as facing the serious crisis which hit the world's economy and whose effects have not yet disappeared." LULA AND HU JINTAO SHAKING HANDS
- Embargoed: 1st May 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: International Relations,Economic News
- Reuters ID: LVAAWA2N5V6PADOU3XUONNH1VIV9
- Story Text: Chinese President Hu Jintao and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met on the sidelines of a summit in Brasilia on Thursday (April 15) to bolster trade between the two emerging giants.
The two presidents signed a five-year strategic plan that will set a framework for growth in ties ahead of a summit in Brasilia of the BRIC group of big emerging economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Both Brazil and China are keen to balance U.S. power as much as possible, want a greater role in international affairs for developing nations, and are pushing for reform of the global financial system.
The thousands of miles separating them have kept ties free from security tensions that complicate China's relations with neighbours India and Russia.
But the geographical gap also complicates trade and communication, leading to years of neglect that is only now starting to change as trade and investment links between China and Latin America's largest economy surge.
The bilateral deal addresses part of Brazil's concerns over China's huge appetite for commodities, which is keeps Brazil as an exporter of low-value, non-manufactured goods.
In a news conference after their meeting, Hu Jintao said the two countries were strategic partners in several areas.
"Both China and Brazil are willing to increase strategic cooperation on international affairs and in multilateral institutions, to push for reform of the global financial system and positively strengthen cooperation on combating climate change to protect the shared interests of developing countries and together promote world peace and development," he told reporters.
China last year became Brazil's number one trade partner, displacing the United States for the first time in decades as two-way trade tripled to $36 billion in five years.
Lula told reporters that China was a key player in the efforts to battle the economic crisis' effects.
"We are building a strategic alliance between two great countries of the south. We have universal vocations and global interests. For that reason we have in our agendas common themes such as facing the serious crisis which hit the world's economy and whose effects have not yet disappeared," he said.
China's huge purchases of commodities from iron ore to oil and soybeans helped give Brazil a bilateral trade surplus of $4.3 billion dollars last year.
But the trade that forms the backbone of the relationship is unbalanced and fraught with tensions. Brazil's imports from China are almost entirely manufactured goods and some fret that local manufacturing is being hollowed out.
Like their U.S. counterparts, Brazilian manufacturers worry that Chinese firms get an extra advantage from a currency held unfairly low by the government. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None