China, Brazil sign economic co-op agreements

DURBAN, South Africa - China and Brazil on Tuesday signed agreements aimed at boosting economic cooperation between the two countries.

China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and his Brazilian counterpart Guido Mantega signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Bilateral Cooperation in Macroeconomic, Fiscal and Financial Policies. The two sides also signed a currency swap agreement to broaden access to financial resources.

A statement from the Ministry of Finance of China said that the MoU signed by the ministers was aimed at further strengthening macroeconomic, fiscal financial, monetary and supervisory cooperation under bilateral and multilateral frameworks, broadening common economic interests and boosting social and economic development in the two countries.

It was also meant to promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy, playing an active role in deepening bilateral, economic, financial and trade cooperation while enhancing China-Brazil Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Mantega said the currency swap agreement would result in a stronger partnership between the two countries in various areas, including customs, which could be expanded to cover infrastructure development where Brazil was open for China's participation.

The currency swap deal involving 190 billion Renminbi ($30 billion) and 60 billion reais (about 30 billion U.S. dollars) will be independent of the financial conditions of the international markets.

While this was a initial bilateral agreement between two countries, the arrangement could be expanded to cover other countries within the BRICS bloc, Mantega added.