Sao Paulo, May 10, 2004.—Today, China is Brazil’s third-largest trading partner, and Brazil has become China’s third-largest trading partner in the Americas. And the potential for further trade and investment between these two vibrant countries is enormous.
       
The conference “Investment Opportunities Brazil-China” opens tomorrow and is sponsored by the International Finance Corporation, the Brazilian government, and the General Consulate of China
in Sao Paulo.

It will explore the challenges and opportunities for investment between Brazil and China. Taking place at the headquarters of the Bolsa de Mercadorias and Futuros in Sao Paulo, this two-day event will address the regulatory, legal, and financial challenges facing governments and the private sector in the two countries.

Sponsors also include the host of the event BM&F, as well as Brazil Trade Net, CNI, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, Latin Finance magazine, and Noronha Advogados.

The conference precedes President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva’s groundbreaking visit to China, which signals the growing importance of the relationship between the two countries. The surge in China’s demand for many basic goods and the broadening range of products traded are encouraging Brazilian and Chinese companies to establish new production facilities in both countries, in sectors as varied as petroleum, telecommunications, and aeronautics.   Many of these investments are being made jointly by Chinese and Brazilian firms. And the number of Chinese and Brazilian companies seeking business opportunities continues to increase.
       
Luiz Fernando Furlan, Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry and International Trade, will open the event. Other participants in the conference will include Assaad Jabre, IFC’s Vice President of Operations; Jiang Yuande, China’s Ambassador to Brazil; Manoel Felix da Cintra Neto, President of BM&F; Governor Blairo Maggi of the state of Matto Grosso; Mario Vilalva, Director of Commercial Promotion at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Consul General of China in Sao Paulo, Shen Qing; and many other key players from companies and organizations that are active in developing trade and investment between the two countries.

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, supports the development of a sustainable private sector in emerging markets. Brazil accounts for IFC’s largest investment portfolio, and China is at the center of the Corporation’s strategy for East Asia. IFC looks forward to fostering the growing synergy between the two countries, by helping Brazilian and Chinese firms internationalize their business and promoting direct investment between the two countries.

Facts about trade and investment between China and Brazil:

·Brazil has grown to become China’s third-largest commercial partner in the Americas. Brazil’s imports from China totaled $2.2 billion in 2003.
·Brazil’s trade with China, about $7 billion per year, marks a tremendous increase from $1 million in annual trade just nine years ago.
·A proposed trade agreement between China and the Mercosur countries, currently being debated, could also intensify the trend toward commercial partnerships.
·Brazil’s recognition of China as an opportunity not only shows the entrepreneurial spirit of Brazilian companies, but also sets an encouraging precedent for other countries in Latin America that are concerned about competitiveness and the economic expansion of China.