China opened its market to Brazilian pork and Brazil’s meat packer Marfrig said it would invest heavily in distribution centres in China. The announcements were made in Beijing where a numerous government and private sector delegation headed by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is on an official visit to China.
President Rousseff arrived in Beijing Monday to begin a state visit to China that will incorporate Thursday’s summit of BRIC leaders. However Ms Rousseff’s trip to China is symbolically important since it is her first overseas visit outside Latin America and underlines the growing importance of the Brazil/China relationship, points out Capital Economics.
China plans to invest ten billion US dollars in the production, storage and transport of soybeans in Brazil to ensure the supply of the commodity of which it is the world’s main importer, according to press reports in Beijing.
Brazil unveiled Wednesday the latest effort to stem a flood of foreign capital that is driving the local currency sky-high and undermining the competitiveness of the country’s exports. Finance Minister Guido Mantega blamed the currency woes on the Federal Reserve policy that keeps US interest rates near zero.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff strongly supported the need to spend money on defence at a time when she is making big budget cuts in many areas.
Brazil’s credit rating was raised one level by Fitch Ratings, which cited the economy’s growth prospects and budget policy under President Dilma Rousseff.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff trusts a Truth Commission can be set up and working before the end of the year to investigate crimes and human rights abuses committed during the military dictatorship which extended from 1964 to 1985.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and her Chinese peer Hu Jintao will address the Libyan crisis and other issues related to the Chinese currency, Yuan, which has Brazilian manufacturers most concerned, anticipated the Brazilian Foreign Affairs ministry.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Lula da Silva will be meeting this week for an international event in Portugal, just a few days after the new government abandoned a pro-dialogue with Iran position for a more neutral stance.
Contrary to the rest of Latin American countries, Brazil is the only where an amnesty law sanctioned by the military dictatorship in 1979 remains effective, ignoring a ruling from the Inter American Court of Human Rights, according to jurist Helio Bicudo.