Brazil, China Sign Agreement to Trade in Yuan

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - China and Brazil have concluded an agreement on the bilateral trade in the Chinese yuan and are planning to expand the cooperation in food and mineral extractions sectors, the Chinese vice minister of commerce, Guo Tingting, said on Thursday.

"An agreement on settling payments in yuan has been signed with Brazil, which greatly facilitates our trade. We are planning to expand cooperation in the field of food and mineral extraction, and to search for a possibility of exporting goods with high added value from China to Brazil and from Brazil to China," Guo said at a business forum in Beijing, as quoted by Brazilian newspaper.

On Wednesday, Brazil and China announced the establishment of a clearing house that would provide for the settlements without using the US dollar, as well as lending in national currencies to facilitate and reduce the cost of transactions and get rid of dollar dependence in the bilateral relations.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was set to visit China from March 26-31, but may reportedly reschedule the trip to the country to April 11-13 to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping because the Brazilian leader was diagnosed with pneumonia last week.