CRI听力:Industrial Co-op High on Agenda of Premier Li's Upcoming Visit to Brazil

Many of the agreements likely to be signed during the premier's visit will include Chinese companies teaming up with Brazilian partners to shift production into Brazil.

Zhou Zhiwei, Director of the Institute of Latin American studies at the China Academy of Social Sciences, says more cooperation between the two sides is needed to increase industrial capacity.
 
"The relationship between China and Brazil enjoys a solid base and is developing rapidly. However, China's economic downturn and structural readjustments have brought down its needs for commodities, which have been the basis for most of China and Brazil's bilateral trade. So it is necessary to develop new growth points. Industrial capacity cooperation provides opportunities to further develop bilateral trade and will contribute to the transformation and upgrading of bilateral economic and trade relations."

China's investment in Brazil, its largest trading partner in Latin America, hit some 19 billion U.S. dollars last year.

Brazil's Ambassador to China, Valdemar Carneiro Leao, says retooling the bilateral economic relationship won't be a quick process.

"The majority of products that Brazil has exported to China are raw materials, while China mainly exports industrial products to Brazil. This situation cannot be changed in short period of time. Of course, Brazil needs to improve its own product competitiveness. Both governments are working for this. However, there is a process in which governments should keep encouraging enterprises to work towards this goal."

In recent years, the Brazilian government has launched a series of infrastructure projects with the help of foreign investment.

The Chinese government has been encouraging Chinese firms to bid for Brazil's new rail and energy projects.

China's ambassador to Brazil, Li Jinzhang, says a number of leading Chinese companies are teaming up with Brazilian counterparts in power generation.

"Apart from electricity transmission, many Chinese companies, including the Three Gorges Corporation and Gezhouba Group Corporation, are cooperating with local power companies in Brazil to develop hydropower projects. As part of Li Keqiang's visit to Brazil, the Three Gorges Corporation will sign a delivery contract for a wind power station in northeast Brazil. This marks a strategic shift by Chinese companies in Brazil to expand from solar, hydro and thermal power to wind power."

Brazil is the first stop on Chinese Premier Li Keqing's 9-day trip through Latin America.

He is also due to make stops in Colombia, Peru and Chile.

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.