China-Brazil trade ties propel BRICS co-op

BEIJING - Growing trade ties between China and Brazil can help invigorate the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) mechanism, officials and analysts from the two countries have said.

"Trade ties between China and Brazil are of great importance to the two countries' economies amid global woes and the member states' economic stability is vital for the BRICS mechanism," said Zhou Zhiwei, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Statistics from the Brazilian central bank show that trade between the two countries expanded from 6.68 billion U.S. dollars in 2003 to 75.46 billion U.S. dollars in 2012.

"In 2011, bilateral trade between China and Brazil surpassed that between China and Russia, making them the biggest partners within BRICS," Zhou said.

In 2009, China replaced the United States as Brazil's largest trading partner.

Braz Baracuhy, an official from the Brazilian Embassy in China, said rapid trade growth has stimulated the BRICS mechanism and helped push forward multilateral communication with other international organs.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said last week that Brazil and China are expected to seal a currency swap deal at an upcoming BRICS summit to be held in the South African city of Durban.