Brazilian economist: Brazil-China economic relations need to be improved

The economic relations between Brazil and China are important and should be improved through increased integration in production and an increase in technological cooperation, a Brazilian economist said.

The economic crisis was shifting its dynamics from the United States to other regional centers, Marcio Pochmann, president of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

China and India represented a possibility of global development and sustainability, while in South America, Brazil is capable of leading a development project that included the protection of production and employment, Pochmann said.

In view of the fact that China has become Brazil’s main trade partner recently, Pochmann stressed the importance of Brazil’s future economic relations with China.

This bilateral cooperation was the result of a decision made years ago when Brazil abandoned its habit of trading only with rich countries, he said.

In 2002, about two thirds of Brazil’s trade was with rich countries from the northern hemisphere.

From 2003 on, the Brazilian government worked to find new trade partners and expand its trade and economic relations with the southern countries, the Ipea president said.

“This decision was very important,” he said, adding that it allowed China to be Brazil’s largest trade partner.

He believed this trend should continue in the next few years because the increase in Brazil’s export was achieved in trade with partners that were not from rich countries.

Brazil and China should also deepen their bilateral cooperation in some technological fields, he said.

“We believe that is a necessary step, because the relations between rich and poor countries in the world do not usually involve much technology transfer or sharing,” he added.

“A good trade partnership must allow equal benefits to different countries,” Pochmann said, adding that an increase in technology cooperation was indispensable.

Speaking of the two countries’ roles in the new economic order that is emerging from the crisis, he said they have a long way to go in building a new social and economic order.

“It is necessary to rebuild the international financial system, which from our point of view cannot remain with only one country having a major currency,” he said.

By contrast, “we must have a base of exchange with currencies which do not belong to only one country, but to several countries,” he said.