China-Brazil infrastructure cooperation mutually beneficial: experts

Infrastructure cooperation between China and Brazil is mutually beneficial and should be further strengthened, experts say.

Brazil hopes to attract Chinese investment in highways, railways, ports, airports and other infrastructure projects, while the Chinese government regards infrastructure building key to bilateral cooperation, they say.

"The Brazilian government can count on infrastructure investment as a way to overcome the current economic recession, and promote economic and social development," Xie Wenze, a visiting scholar from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

A 1-percent increase in infrastructure investment can raise Brazil's GDP by about 0.6 percent, he said.

Currently, bilateral infrastructure cooperation is mainly centered on one-off projects. Equity mergers and acquisitions around these projects are expected to bring long-term benefits for both sides, according to Xie.

Bilateral energy cooperation has yielded great results in recent years. China's State Grid Corp. has expanded its business in Brazil as a result.

"The experience of equity mergers and acquisitions on the part of China's State Grid Corp. could be promoted to other ... projects in railways, highways, ports and other areas," said Ivanildo Marcos Beltrao, a Brazilian company official.

To support cooperation projects between China and regional countries, the China-Latin American Cooperation Fund was launched in early January with a startup capital of 10 billion U.S. dollars.

A similar 10-billion-dollar fund was set up in September, 2015 to support China's investment in an array of medium- and long-term projects in Latin America. Endi