Brasília, December 2, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Brazilian Aircraft Company (Embraer) signed its most important international contract to date, today in China. It will mount an assembly line in Chinese territory to furnish 500 planes. All with Brazilian parts and technology. The news was passed to Radiobrás via telephone by the minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Sérgio Amaral, who is on an official mission in that country.

Amaral said that he also signed a technological cooperation agreement today with the Beijing government in the area of informatics, especially for the development of software. He said he was "impressed" by the rapid progress in economic relations between Brazil and China. Chiefly by the nearly immediate response to contacts initiated eight months ago by a mission of Brazilian entrepreneurs, coordinated by ambassador Sérgio Amaral. He recalled that, traditionally, negotiations with the Chinese tend to drag out over a long time. (DAS)