|
The Chinese government hopes that trade between Brazil and China will reach US$ 20 billion in 2007, 65% more than the US$ 12.18 billion registered in 2005.
This forecast was made by the Chinese Deputy Minister of Communications, Qian Xiaoqian. Through February of this year, trade between the two countries stood at US$ 1.8 billion. "Our trade relations are very important to both countries, and there is still great potential for developing this relationship. Given the size of our countries, bilateral trade is still small," the Chinese minister declared, in Brazilian capital Brasília. Xiaoqian is in Brazil to become acquainted with the vehicles of communication and seek partnerships with Brazilian media. The Asian giant, according to the deputy minister, has 1,900 newspapers, 9,500 magazines, over 2,000 television channels, another 2,000 thousand radio stations, and more than 700 thousand Internet portals. "The Chinese population is increasingly interested in the world and in Brazil, which is one of the world's most important countries," he pointed out. "To my satisfaction, I also perceive a great interest in China on the part of the Brazilian media." At present, despite a trade balance that favors Brazil, some Brazilian industrial sectors claim they are being harmed by competition from Chinese products. This is the case of manufacturers of shoes, toys, electro-electronic goods, eyeglasses, and machinery to produce plastic items. Except for the textile sector, the Chinese have always demonstrated adamant opposition to any type of agreement. Notwithstanding the Chinese resistance, Xiaoqian assured that the Chinese government is willing to search for solutions. "It is natural for problems to arise in any commercial relationship," he affirmed. "We shall try to resolve this on the basis of mutual interest," he said. According to Xiaoqian, the visit by Brazil's Vice President, José Alencar, to China "is a big stimulus to bilateral relations, especially economic and commercial ones." Alencar will be in China until this Saturday, March 25. He has been there on official business since March 20. Comparing to the 70s Brazil and China began a closer diplomatic relationship in 1974 and, since then, have kept friendly and cooperative relationships. At that time, trade between the two countries reached approximately US$ 17 million, according to data from Chinese customs agency. In 1993, during the administration of Brazilian President Itamar Franco, the two countries established a strategic partnership, which brought them closer and fostered bilateral commerce. In the 90s, business between Brazil and China surpassed US$ 2 billion. Trade exchange got a new impulse in 2000, jumping from US$ 2.3 billion that year to US$ 12.18 billion in 2005. Importation of Chinese products went from US$ 1.22 billion in 2000, to US$ 5.35 billion in 2005. Brazilian exports to that country increased even more - from US$ 1.08 billion to US$ 6.83 billion. China became the third major destination of Brazilian products, following the United States and Argentina. And Brazil went from a US$ 135.20 million deficit to a US$ 1.48 billion trade surplus with the Asian giant - a result the Chinese government wants to reverse. Agência Brasil
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.
"At present, despite a trade balance that favors Brazil, some Brazilian industrial sectors claim they are being harmed by competition from Chinese products."
quote:
"And Brazil went from a US$ 135.20 million deficit to a US$ 1.48 billion trade surplus with the Asian giant - a result the Chinese government wants to reverse."
Just wait, if brazil continues to align themselves with China and give them a "preferred" status as a trading partner, in another 10-15 years brazil will be BEGGING the U.S. for help!! Once they get in with the chinese and discover it's a pit of quicksand, and the only way out will reslut in economic sanctions or WORSE by the Chinese, they'll look to ole Uncle Sammy, as is the norm.