Visiting Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Wu Bangguo delivered an important speech titled Giving Full Play to the Roles of Enterprises as Major Players in the Economic and Trade Cooperation at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of China-Brazil Entrepreneurs Committee on August 31, 2006.

The full text of the speech is as follows:

Giving Full Play to the Roles of Enterprises as Major Players in the Economic and Trade Cooperation

- Speech Delivered at the Annual Meeting of China-Brazil Entrepreneurs Committee

Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC)

(Brasilia, August 31, 2006)

Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

Good morning.

I'm very delighted to have this opportunity to attend the Annual Meeting of China-Brazil Entrepreneurs Committee during my visit to Brazil. China-Brazil Entrepreneurs Committee is the first cooperation organization between China and South America established by companies on a voluntary basis. The Committee consists of many well-known Chinese and Brazilian companies and entrepreneurs. Since its establishment 2 years ago, the Committee has been making positive contributions to enhancing the understanding between the Chinese and Brazilian companies and promoting the economic and trade relations between the two countries. Hereby, I'd like to first extend my cordial greeting and best wishes to the entrepreneurs present at the meeting.

The economic and trade cooperation is the physical foundation for China-Brazil strategic partnership and an important guarantee for the sustained robustness of bilateral relationship. The economic and trade relations between our two countries continue to grow at a rapid speed in recent years. The bilateral trade volume amounted to US$ 14,817 million in 2005, quadrupling that of 2001. There are 89 Chinese enterprises in Brazil and their actual investment in Brazil has reached US$ 151 million. The actual investment of Brazil in China stands at US$ 144 million, covering 384 projects. Brazil is the largest trading partner of China in Latin America and China is the largest trading partner of Brazil in Asia. The rapid development of bilateral economic and trade ties not only brings tangible benefits to the two countries and people but also injects strong vitalities into the growth of China-Brazil relationship and offers a wide arena for the cooperation between enterprises of the two countries.

The two economies are highly complementary. Both China and Brazil are fast growing emerging markets. With the continuous growth of our national economy and the deepening of economic globalization, the economic and trade cooperation between our two countries faces unprecedented opportunities and enjoys a broad space for further development.

Energy and mineral resources. China is the 2nd largest energy producer and consumer in the world. Since the 1990s, China's energy self-supply rate has been maintained at above 90%, but we still need to import oil and natural gas. In 2005, China's steel output reached 350 million tons and output of electrolyte aluminum amounted to 7,787,000 tons. In addition to the domestic supplies, China needs to import a large amount of mineral resources. At present, China's per capita consumption of main mineral resources was only 2/3 of the world average. With the continuous growth of the economy, China's aggregate demand for mineral resources will increase. Our energy strategy is that on the prerequisite of giving priority to energy saving and basing ourselves on domestic supplies we will moderately utilize the international energy and mineral resources market. China has carried out mutually beneficial cooperation with many countries in the field of energy and mineral resources. Brazil is a country with abundant energy and mineral resources as well as well-developed resources industries and enjoys uniqueness in developing new energies such as fuel ethanol and biological diesel. Brazil is an important producer and exporter of energy and mineral resources. Strengthening our mutually beneficial cooperation is conducive to exploiting our complementary advantages and conforms to the common interests of both countries. We are willing to strengthen the cooperation with Brazil on the basis of equality and mutual benefits, let alone both sides have establish a good foundation for the cooperation in this field. A subcommittee on energy and mineral resources was created at the first meeting of China-Brazil High-Level Committee on Coordination and Cooperation this March. The entrepreneurs of both countries should proceed from a strategic height to build a more stable partnership on the existing basis and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

Infrastructure construction. China and Brazil are both developing countries with vast territories and experiencing flourishing infrastructure construction. Through years of development, China has accumulated rich experiences and developed strong competence in infrastructure construction such as the construction of railways, roads, ports, airports and oil and gas pipelines. In 2005, China built over 1200 kilometers of new railways, added over 480 kilometers of double-track railways and completed over 860 kilometers of electrified railways. The operating mileage of China's railways totaled 75,000 kilometers and 43 electrified railways have been constructed, making China the No. country in the world after Russia and Germany in terms of electrified railways. A few months ago, the 1,100-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet railway opened to traffic. China overcame the three difficulties, which are frozen tundra, lack of oxygen due to high altitude and fragility of plateau eco-environment and hit multiple world records in the history of railway construction. Last year, China constructed 129,000 kilometers of roads, among which there were 6,400-kilometer expressways. China ranked No. 2 in terms of the total mileage of expressway open to traffic, which amounted to 41,000 kilometers. China has 1030 10000-ton productive berths, the cargo throughput of Chinese ports reached 4.9 billion tons and international container throughout of Chinese ports reached 75,800 twenty-feet equivalent units, both ranking No. 1 in the world. The total mileage of China's oil and gas pipelines rose from 20,400 kilometers in 1997 to 44,000 kilometers in 2005 and almost doubled. Although the companies of the two countries did participate in some infrastructure projects of each other, they did not have a good understanding of each other in general. The cooperation potential remains untapped. Strengthening the cooperation in infrastructure construction is an important aspect of deepening economic and trade relations. Therefore, the cooperation in this field enjoys bright prospects.

High and new technology. China and Brazil signed the accord for scientific and technological cooperation as early as in 1982. In recent years, the bilateral cooperation in this field is characterized by expanded areas, enriched contents and emerging results. China and Brazil jointly developed and launched two earth resources satellites, which are recognized as the model of south-south cooperation. China and Brazil worked together to manufacture branch line airplanes and set up a joint venture in 2002. Only one year later, the first airplane was delivered. Examined by the airworthiness authorities of the two countries, the technology and quality of the airplane are up to the standards and meet the requirements of the FAA. Another 6 airplanes were delivered in 2004. The agreements for purchasing 10 airplanes were signed in 2005. I'm delighted to tell you that yesterday President Lula and I witnessed the signing of the contracts for purchasing 100 airplanes, including 50 100-seat airplanes manufactured in Brazil. We also witnessed the signing of the MoU on the strategic partnership between ZTE and Brasil Telecom. All these have opened a new chapter for the all-round cooperation between China and Brazil in the high and new technology field. The competition of the overall national strength boils down to the competition of scientific and technological strength. China and Brazil attach great importance to scientific and technological progress and focus on developing high and new technologies. We have developed our respective advantages. Facing the opportunities and challenges brought about by the rapidly progressing technologies, we should, on the existing basis, continue to expand and deepen the strategic cooperation in the high and new technology field, share the remarkable achievements of scientific and technological progress and enhance indigenous innovation ability so as to benefit our people.

Traditional trade areas including agricultural, textile, machinery and electronic and light industry products. Our two countries have respective advantages and mutual demands in those areas. The existing trade in goods has enriched our respective domestic markets and brought tangible benefits to our people. Brazil has well-developed agriculture and animal husbandry and diversified agricultural produces. It exported nearly 8 million tons of soybeans to China last year, accounting for about 30% of the total imported soybeans of China. There is still a large space for bilateral cooperation in the planting and development of soybeans. The home appliances, communication products and light industry products of China enjoy good reputation in the Brazilian market. The products of some Chinese companies like Gree and SVA are very popular in Brazil. Some of these Chinese companies have made investment and opened factories in Brazil, making positive contributions to the economic development and employment of Brazil. The bilateral trade volume increased by 20% in 2005 and from January to June this year grew by 51.2%. The fast growing momentum indicates that there is still a large space for further development. The cooperation in those areas will become an important part of deepening bilateral economic and trade relations.

What is more pleasing is that the enthusiasm of both sides to expand the scale of economic and trade cooperation and upgrade the quality and level of cooperation are at an all time high. To turn the strong aspiration and great potential into reality, we should, more importantly, give full play to the role of enterprises as main players in the economic and trade cooperation and promote the cooperation on some large projects so as to drive the overall cooperation. Both China and Brazil adopt the market economy system under which enterprises are the major players and investors in the market and main actors of economic and trade cooperation. I hope that the enterprises of both countries could make the best use of each other' advantages, explore new ways and means of cooperation between enterprises, exploit new areas for investment cooperation, increase mutual direct investment and expand the economic and trade cooperation from trade in goods to investment cooperation, industrial cooperation, economic and technological cooperation so as to achieve a qualitative leap in our economic and trade relations. The Chinese government will continue to encourage competitive and well-reputed Chinese enterprises to make investment in Brazil and we also welcome Brazilian enterprises to do business in China.

Hereby I'd like to emphasize that the two governments and related departments should take strengthening the cooperation between enterprises as a priority of deepening the economic and trade cooperation, serve as the bridge for the cooperation between enterprises, continue to promote bilateral trade and investment facilitation and improve investment environment. We should give further play to the role of China-Brazil High-Level Committee on Coordination and Cooperation, resolve the problems that emerge in the process of economic and trade cooperation, especially in the cooperation between enterprises, in a timely and coordinated manner, and create more favorable conditions and offer greater facilitation for the cooperation between enterprises and on large projects. I'm convinced that with the joint efforts of the Chinese and Brazilian entrepreneurs the economic and trade cooperation between China and Brazil will embrace a more beautiful tomorrow.

Finally, wish the Annual Meeting of China-Brazil Entrepreneurs Cooperation Committee a complete success.

Thank you.