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Building on understandings reached last year at the Expo Brazil-China, Brazilian Minister José Fritsch, head of the Secretariat of Fishing and Aquaculture has met with a delegation from the municipality of Weihai, which produces two million tons of fish a year. That is double the total Brazilian yearly fish production.
Fritsch says the ties with Weihai will permit the Brazilian fish industry to expand it knowledge and acquire new techniques. "We can send people to Chinese laboratories where they can see the latest methods," said Fritsch.
Last month, a Chinese mission came to Brazil to learn about the fruits and evolution of Brazilian agriculture. They started their tour at the National Agricultural Society (SNA), in Rio de Janeiro.
The executive director of the Brazil-China Chamber, Richard Liu, who accompanied the mission, said that the Chinese are also interested "in examinating the possibilities of exchanges with Brazil, mainly in the areas of agricultural technology and trade, to expand bilateral trade links."
In Liu's opinion, the potential for exchanges, especially in the technological sphere, is "great," because "China possesses considerable knowledge, for example, in irrigation techniques for crops such as rice."
In return, Brazil can offer technology developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) to combat pests in crops such as cotton and sugar cane. In these crops, he added, Brazil has many advantages and competitive prices.
Liu emphasized that Brazilian imports of Chinese agricultural products are practically nonexistent and what there is is limited to a very few items, garlic being the most prominent among them.
"But from Brazil to China, the situation is the reverse, because of soybeans and some sugar cane derivatives, such as alcohol," he explained.
The visit might end up leading to agreements in the organic farming sector. The executive director recalled that "there is a large demand for green products in China, and the government has been stimulating this type of agriculture, in view of the improved living standards of the population."
Agência Brasil
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