President Lula suggested and President Hu Jintao agreed that we have a meeting of the ministers of the economy and presidents of the central banks of both Brazil and China to discuss all aspects of this proposal and try to find ways that are technically sound to allow this proposal to become a reality. We are now discussing in Brazil a possible date for such a meeting, and I hope that we receive instructions from Brazil to propose to the Chinese side a date for the meeting.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. How would you characterize the 35 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries?

I don't think there is a better way to characterize them than what President Lula said to President Hu Jintao during his visit. He said that many countries would have liked to see such development in a 35-year period, and that our relations in 35 years have grown more than the relations between many countries in a period of 100 years. If you look at all aspects of our relations, you see the progress is extraordinary.

It is a relationship that has grown in every area. Take culture, for example. We are now intensifying our cooperation in the teaching of Portuguese in China. During President Lula's visit, we established a center for Brazilian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Next year we are going to have a Brazilian teacher there teaching Portuguese. President Lula and President Hu Jintao also agreed to have a Brazilian month in China and a Chinese month in Brazil next year.

On the science and technology front, for 20 years, Brazil and China have cooperated in jointly launching satellites that were built by both countries. We have already launched three satellites and we are going to launch our fourth satellite probably early in 2011 or by the end of 2010. These satellites are for remote sensing of the Earth's resources and they are very important for both countries. We are now expanding this cooperation to other important areas.

Last year, we had an important visit from General Xu Caihou, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, to Brazil. The Brazilian defense minister should come to China this year on an official visit. Since I arrived in China seven months ago, we have had two ships on official visits to China from the Brazilian Navy. The commander of the Brazilian Navy, the highest officer in our navy, visited China for the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Navy. Brazil also took part in the naval parade marking the anniversary.

How can China and Brazil strengthen coordination within the framework of the BRIC countries?

I think the relationship between Brazil and China within the BRIC is a very strong one. We have excellent coordination and share many views. First, both countries recognize that the world is changing. The crisis in the world economy has deepened and accelerated the process of change.

Second, the power of Brazil and China is growing in the world. Both countries are becoming more important economically, politically and in technological terms. We are going to have more power in the shaping of the new world order. We are going to have more responsibilities. We are going to have to coordinate closely to see that our interests are taken into account and that we can become partners in this reshaping of the world.

Third, Brazil and China are major developing countries, which is an important aspect of our foreign policy. Both countries are committed to promoting the interests of developing countries.

Fourth, both countries are major countries in their own regions, China in Asia and Brazil in Latin America. We also have something that can be perceived as a difficulty, that is, the distance and difference in culture between Brazil and China. But it can also be perceived as something positive, because the fact that the countries are in different regions means that they don't have conflict between them or a common history where they had problems in the past. So we can build our relationship without any reference to past issues that were negative in our relations.