On the fourth day of his official visit to China, Brazilian Vice President José Alencar got a formal welcome in the Great Hall of the People, seat of the executive and legislative branches.
He met with the Chinese Vice President, Zeng Qinghong, and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Wu Bangguo.
Various cooperation documents were signed in the areas of telecommunications and informatics, education and culture, finance, and agriculture. The last of these deals with pork imports and exports.
Unlike in Shanghai, where his agenda was more devoted to trade matters, in Beijing the Vice President is carrying out the political part of his official visit to China.
Besides meeting with the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, Alencar will install the Sino-Brazilian High-Level Commission for Coordination and Cooperation (COSBAN), assigned the strategic goal of creating conditions to bring the two countries closer together. The Commission was created during President Lula’s visit to China in 2004.
In the Vice President’s opinion, Brazil will have to make some internal adjustments to ensure competitiveness and enable trade relations with China to expand. He mentions, for example, infrastructure investments and changes in the interest rate and the tax system.
"These are factors that disturb the development of the country’s economy. We must simplify the national tax system so that foreign investors will come and be able to invest," he declared.
Agência Brasil