ChinaDaily
BEIJING - China pledged
to diversify its trade with Brazil
and boost imports from South America's biggest economy, as Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff began her debut presidential trip outside Latin
America on Tuesday.
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| President Hu Jintao shakes hands with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. [Xu Jingxing / China Daily] |
Earlier on Tuesday, Chinese and Brazilian
companies signed 13 deals and cooperation documents. These included the
purchase of 35 E190 planes by Chinese airlines from Brazilian aircraft
manufacturer Embraer, worth about $1.4 billion.
The purchase will result in State-owned
China Southern Airlines getting 20 of the planes and Hebei Airlines, a regional
carrier based in northern China,
getting 15. The aircraft can seat 98 to 114 people.
About 80 Embraer planes are currently in
operation in China.
Embraer, the third largest global airplane
manufacturer behind Boeing and Airbus, was also set to sign an agreement with
the State-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China to manufacture the firm's
Legacy 600 business jet, Brazilian officials told AFP.
Brazil's
national electric company, Eletrobras, and state-run energy giant Petrobras
also signed deals with their Chinese partners.
The two presidents on Tuesday night also
witnessed the signing ceremony of eight other cooperation documents, including
one on defense signed by the defense minister and Brazil's foreign minister. No
details of the agreements were released.
Hu said in the talks that "the
China-Brazil strategic partnership has become a successful example of
South-South cooperation and has an increasing global impact and strategic
significance", according to a press release issued by the Foreign
Ministry.
