China, which is Brazil’s greatest commercial partner, with last year’s transactions amounting to US$ 90 billion, plans to strengthen its ties with Brazilian and also participate in a coordinated manner in international multilateral mechanisms.
After the ceremony that marked the signing of bilateral agreements with Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, China’s head of state Xi Jinping also called for “further consensus”.
Jinping hopes the agreements closed during his state visit to Brazil promote the “ongoing increase” of bilateral trade. He mentioned the great interest of the Chinese in investing in infrastructure, logistics, oil, iron ore, and agriculture.
“We’re willing to conduct strategic cooperation in the construction of iron roads and also in technology and the internet, as well as to expand our commercial cooperation at all levels: the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, G20 [the world’s 20 biggest economies] and BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa].”
In his view, China and Brazil, as “important countries in the emerging market, and key States for development,” may also encourage the advancement of other developing countries.
“After this visit, I’m more convinced of Brazil’s and China’s development, and that both parties will keep supporting all actions focused on development, facing the challenges and sharing the opportunities in an effort to use its development for the promotion of growth in all emerging countries,” Jinping stated.
Dilma Rousseff, in turn, highlighted how willing China is to invest in strategic sectors in Brazil, like that of energy, by means of partnerships in the construction of hydroelectric power plants and transmission lines, and also those of oil and aviation, with the purchase of aircrafts built by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer.
Relations between Brazil and China are promising, Rousseff believes: “The visit of the Chinese president marks the fortieth anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. The outcome couldn’t be any more positive and the future more promising. Our relations rearrange a strategic partnership in several areas of cooperation.”
Rousseff showed Jinping opportunities in the form of railroad, airline and highway tenders. “In this connection, we refer to the memorandum of understanding on the railroad cooperation. I reiterated to President Xi Jinping my expectations as to the participation of Chinese companies in Brazilian infrastructure and logistics projects.”
According to Rousseff, the bilateral relations were strengthened after significant investments for the production by Sany of construction equipment were announced, totaling $300 million, and the installation of car maker Chery, both in Jacareí, São Paulo. Each of these enterprises will generate a thousand job positions, Rousseff said.
IMF
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, congratulated President Dilma Rousseff for the gathering of BRICS leaders held in Fortaleza, in the Brazilian Northeast, and the creation of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, which comes as a complement to the global network of financial protection.
In her letter to the Brazilian president, Christine Lagarde said that the “IMF staff would be delighted to work with the BRICS team dedicated to this project with a view to reinforcing the cooperation among all parts of the international safety net intended to preserve financial stability in the world.”
The IMF director went on to reiterate that the institution maintains solid relations with all BRICS nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration.”, she added.
On Tuesday, (Jul 15) Rousseff announced, during the meeting with the leaders, the creation of the BRICS Development Bank, with a start-up capital of US$ 50 billion, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, with US$ 100 billion – a fund aimed at helping countries allied with the institution in case of emergency.
China is to contribute US$ 41 billion, and Brazil, India and Russia 18 billion each. South Africa’s share in raising the fund, in turn, amounts to $5 billion.
