Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the space research institute of Brazil on Monday to promote space cooperation for the two countries.

On his first state visit to Brazil, Hu witnessed the signing of two agreements on the cooperation in space technology last week after he met with Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

"The two agreements signed during the current visit demonstrated that our two countries have brighter future in the cooperation of space technology," Hu said at the welcome ceremony hosted by the Brazilian Institute for Space Research in Sao Paulo.

The institute is affiliated to the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology, and was established in 1961 with the aim of promoting research and development in the areas of space science and technology, space technological application.

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng visited the institute in 1993 and 1994 respectively.

China and Brazil jointly developed and launched two resources satellite in 1999 and 2003. They are about to send more satellitesin to orbit in the coming several years.

The cooperation in satellite has brought great benefits to Brazil in areas of disaster reduction, agriculture, city planning and the protection of the Amazon forestry, said Brazilian Ministerof Science and Technology Eduardo Campos.

Sao Paulo is the third leg of Hu's state visit to Brazil following Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. Hu is expected to conclude his visit to Brazil and leave for Argentina on Tuesday.