Brasília, 3/23/2004 (Agência Brasil) - Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, arrived in Beijing on Sunday and has already begun working out the details of agreements that president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will sign during his official visit in May. Among those agreements are a Mercosur-China free trade agreement and one on cooperation in mining endeavors in Brazil.

In 2003, China became the main destination of Brazilian exports in Asia, and the third biggest importer of Brazilian goods in the world, behind only the United States and Argentina. In 2003, bilateral China-Brazil trade reached US$6.7 billion. Amorim is working to increase such trade even more.

Yesterday the minister inaugurated a Varig airline office in Beijing, as part of the effort to boost tourism between the two countries, an effort which includes a tourism agreement. Under the agreement, Brazil will now be regularly offered as a destination by Chinese tourist agencies and Brazilian businessmen will have an easier time getting visas. (translator: Allen Bennett)