Brazil leader leaves China with deals under belt

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil leader leaves China with deals under belt
26 mins ago

Print StoryBrazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left Beijing Wednesday with oil and finance deals worth billions of dollars under his belt and a pledge to strengthen ties with China.

Lula made a last stop Wednesday at the China Academy of Space Technology -- where a joint programme that develops and operates Earth observation satellites is located -- after having met Chinese leaders Tuesday.

A senior Brazilian official told reporters that the two nations plan to jointly launch up to three satellites by 2013, but no details of the arrangements were given.

Chinese rockets have placed three jointly-developed China-Brazilian satellites into orbit since 1999, the last one in 2007, according to state press reports.

Lula's departure was announced by the official Xinhua news agency. He was due to fly to Turkey on the third leg of a trip that started in Saudi Arabia.

Before leaving Brazil, Lula had described the trip as "one of the most important" of his mandate amid a rise in the role of emerging nations at a time of global financial crisis.

Lula and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao agreed to strengthen ties and to deepen financial cooperation on economic and trade activities, according to a joint statement posted on the website of the foreign ministry here.

"The two leaders said that ensuring a closer strategic partnership between China and Brazil had even greater significance in the current complicated international situation," the statement said.

More:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090520/tbs-brazil-leader-leaves-china-with-deal-5268574.html