China forecast to be Brazil's top trade partner
10/7/2008 16:53
Brazil is aiming to make China its biggest trade partner, according to a
Brazilian trade official in Beijing yesterday, adding his country wants to
triple its China exports to US$30 billion in 2010.
Welber Barral, Secretary
of International Trade with Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and
Trade, said the country was seeking more trade opportunities with China and a
larger market share for its products in the mainland market.
"Trade between
Brazil and China has been rapidly expanding in recent years and we hope to keep
the same, even faster growth," he said at a seminar.
China is now Brazil's
third biggest trade partner, while the latter is China's top trade partner in
Latin America.
Sino-Brazilian trade volume soared 10-fold between 2000 to
2006, mostly in the fields of farm produce and raw materials, Barral
said.
There remained huge potential for the two countries to expand the scale
and optimize the trade structure, said China's Vice Minister of Commerce Ma
Xiuhong at the seminar.
"We can complement each other a lot in science and
technology, industry, agriculture and natural resources."
Brazil's official
figures show its China exports totaled US$10.75 billion in value in 2007, with
imports from China reaching US$12.62 billion. It was the country's first annual
trade deficit with China in a decade.
Trade volume between the two countries
hit a record US$29.7 billion last year, 46.4 percent up year on year, according
to China's Ministry of Commerce.
On July 4, Brazil launched a China Agenda
program aimed at boosting bilateral trade and to encourage more Chinese
investment in Brazil.
"We are looking forward to investment by Chinese
enterprises in various sectors of Brazil, especially in infrastructure and
logistics," said Miriam Belchior, executive secretary of Brazil's Growth
Accelerative Program.
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency was
also opening a China office in September, said agency president Alessandro
Teixeira.
Brazil has invested US$250 million in China while Chinese
enterprises have invested US$150 million in Brazil, according to China's
Ministry of Commerce.
Xinhua
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