DIPLOMATIC DYNAMICS

DIPLOMATIC DYNAMICS

China and Brazil

China and Brazil signed a package of government agreements and business deals in Beijing on April 12 during Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s first state visit to China.

The eight government agreements covered areas such as defense, technology and sports. The two countries also inked 13 economic deals, including a Chinese purchase order for 35 Brazilian commercial jets.

Rousseff and Chinese President Hu Jintao also signed a joint communiqué, stressing China and Brazil’s “broad consensus” on issues ranging from trade to global governance.

Hu suggested the two sides strengthen trade ties, enhance hi-tech cooperation and deepen strategic trust by expanding personnel and cultural exchanges.

Rousseff hoped Sino-Brazilian ties could see a “qualitative leap” by advancing bilateral strategic partnership and promoting cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, finance, technology, agriculture, infrastructure, mining and culture.

China is currently Brazil’s biggest trade partner and biggest export market. Chinese statistics show the two countries’trade volume reached $62.5 billion in 2010, up 47.5 percent year on year.

China and the U.S.

Visiting Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached consensus on expanding the two countries’ peopleto-people and cultural exchanges in Washington, D.C. on April 12.

“People-to-people exchanges are a bridge for understanding and trust between states and between peoples,” Liu said during the second meeting of the Sino-U.S. High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange.“They also provide an inexhaustible driving force for deepening Sino-U.S. relations.”

“We want to see robust, open exchanges, and to lay a firm foundation for cultural and educational understanding,” Clinton said. She said the more Chinese and U.S. people learn to cooperate and collaborate, the more China and the United States will be able to find solutions to global challenges.

Liu and Clinton reached a series of agreements in the fields of education, science and technology, culture, sports, and women and youth exchanges. For instance, they announced the launching of the Sino-U.S. Women’s Leadership Exchange and Dialogue.