Chinese leader seeks to woo Latin America

Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed a charm offensive with Latin American leaders on Thursday, highlighting Beijing's growing interest in a resource-rich region traditionally considered the backyard of the United States.

Xi was welcomed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the Planalto government palace in Brasilia with a military honor guard and a cannon salute before private talks.

The two presidents witnessed the signing of 32 agreements, ranging from cooperation in railways to China's $3.2 billion purchase of 60 Brazilian Embraer commercial planes and a joint $300 million investment in a Brazilian plant to build construction equipment.

Xi and Rousseff, whose nations marked 40 years of diplomatic relations, then launched the Portuguese-language version of China's Baidu Internet search engine.

"Our relations, which represent a truly strategic partnership, are developing at an unprecedented speed in diverse areas of cooperation," Rousseff said.

Xi said: "We would like to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen our strategy to create an even more prosperous future for our nations."

The two presidents will later meet with four leaders of the CELAC group of Latin American and Caribbean states, including Cuba's communist President Raul Castro.

Xi arrived in the country this week for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging powers -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- and South American presidents.

The visit is Xi's second to Latin America since taking office last year, when he toured Mexico, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago.

This week, the BRICS agreed to launch a New Development Bank to fund infrastructure projects in developing nations and an emergency reserve, drawing praise from South American presidents who see them as alternatives to Western-dominated financial institutions.

- Alternative to US -

After bilateral talks with Rousseff, Xi will launch the China-Latin America Forum with the CELAC, a 33-nation grouping that will be represented Thursday by Castro and the leaders of Ecuador, Costa Rica and Antigua and Barbuda.

With the visit, Xi is presenting China as an alternative to the United States in the region, analysts said.

"China is an option that matches with the leftist political sympathy that it has with some countries in the region," said Rubens Figueiredo, foreign relations professor at Sao Paulo University.

China's massive purchases of commodities and exports of manufactured goods to the region have boosted its two-way trade with Latin America to a total of $261.6 billion last year, according to China's customs.

- Deals with Brazil -

The world's second largest economy has overtaken the United States as Brazil's top trade partner.

China's government says it wants to invest more in the region, including in energy and infrastructure projects.

Last October, a multinational consortium with Chinese participation won rights to develop Brazil's biggest oilfield.

For its part, Brazil wants to diversify its exports to China, with iron ore, soybean and oil representing most of the business.

Rousseff said China agreed to lift a ban on Brazilian beef that was imposed after an isolated case of mad cow disease in 2012.

Among Thursday's deals, Tianjin Airlines agreed to buy 20 100-capacity E190 jets and 20 E190E-2 models from Embraer. ICBC, China's biggest bank, is purchasing 20 E190 planes.

Rousseff told Xi she hoped China would participate in a railway project that would eventually link her continent-sized country to Peru's Pacific coast, facilitating exports to China.

After Brazil, Xi will head to Argentina, a key source of soybeans for China, before visiting oil-supplier Venezuela and long-time political ally Cuba.

Despite China's growing investments in the region, it will be hard for Beijing to dislodge the United States in Latin America, said Yun Sun, East Asia expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.

"US-Latin America long-standing, traditional ties will not be easily affected by the Chinese political and economic engagements, which are more recent and less comprehensive than US-Latin American relations," she told AFP.