Brazilian Agriculture Minister Luis Favaro attended the China-Brazil Dialogue on Sustainable Development in Beijing, China, on May 27.

Carlos Favaro, Brazil's minister of agriculture and livestock, said his country can and should strengthen trade ties with China. Favaro attended the China-Brazil Dialogue on Sustainable Development in Beijing, China on November 27.

According to Brazilian website canalrural and forbes, about 100 representatives from local governments, think tanks and enterprises of China and Brazil attended the China-Brazil Dialogue on Sustainable Development, which was held on the afternoon of November 27. In his speech, Favaro highlighted the sustainable potential of Brazilian agribusiness to Chinese and Brazilian entrepreneurs and government representatives. "Brazil can and must increase its food production activities. Brazil can and should strengthen trade ties with China. We can do this in a sustainable way, increasing agricultural and livestock production without cutting down trees."

In an interview with Reuters the same day, Mr Favaro said Brazil was seeking new investment from Cofco, China's largest grain, oil and food company. He said he hoped Cofco would invest in railway and waterway projects in Brazil, as well as projects to restore degraded land for farming and livestock production. Cofco has already invested in Santos, Brazil's main soyabean shipping port, with plans to expand its export terminal capacity to 14m tonnes to meet strong demand in the Chinese market.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva postponed a visit to China scheduled for the end of March on Friday due to pneumonia. Favaro said Tuesday that a series of agreements expected to be signed between Brazil and China will be postponed until after Lula arrives in China. No date has been set for the new visit.

According to Favaro, Brazil and China have about 20 agreements to sign, covering a wide range of sectors, including health, agriculture, education, finance, industry and technology. He added that the delay in signing these agreements will not affect the process of negotiations and the establishment of partnership between the two sides.