MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil and China discuss bilateral trade in Real and Yuan

Pte. Lula da Silva and his counterpart Hu Jintao

Brazilian President Lula da Silva said Friday that he supports alternatives to the dollar as the world's premier currency who anticipated the issue will be addressed when he visits China next month. Senior Chinese and Russian officials have talked in recent weeks about a new reserve currency to replace the dollar.

”Everyone is looking for a way out (of the economic crisis). This is why (Chinese President Hu) Jintao and the Russians proposed a third currency“ Lula da Silva told reporters in London.

”This crisis has shown us that over time we will have to start to exchange currencies so we don't have to depend on the dollar,“ he added. The idea wasn't to create a currency to replace the dollar as the world's premier currency, Lula da Silva said. ”The objective is to have alternatives (to the dollar),“ he said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested a new currency reserve based on strong regional currencies, perhaps backed up by gold. Lula da Silva said the Euro, which was launched in 1999, had become the world's second currency, but it hadn't replaced the dollar as the world's benchmark currency.

The Brazilian president said he would meet Hu May 19 to discuss commercial trade agreements that would be based on the Brazilian real and Chinese Yuan. Brazil already has similar trade agreements with Argentina.

”I put on the table (in the meeting with Hu on Thursday) that we begin discussing commercial trade between Brazil and China being made in Brazilian and Chinese currencies (the Real and the Yuan),” Lula told reporters before departing the British capital for Brasilia.

China-Brazil trade in 2008 reached 36.4 billion US dollars, 50% over the previous year, making China the second trade partner of Brazil after the United States