The Bank of China, one of the four state-owned commercial banks in China, will start its business in Brazil in March 2009, the bank's general manager ZhangJianhua said on Thursday.

The decision to operate in Brazil was made last year and the authorization was given by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva earlier this month.

Speaking at the 1st Asia-Brazil Business Round Table, Zhang said it would be the first office of the bank in a Latin American country.

The Bank of China has so far woven its network in 27 countries and regions with over 600 overseas operations.

The meeting was organized by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency to help boost the relations between Brazilian and Asian companies.

"Brazil today has a very sophisticated mechanism of investment and is prepared to receive investment from Asia, especially, from China and Singapore," said Vicente Gil Gama, a sponsor of the Round Table.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2008)