(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-14 14:26

RIO DE JANEIRO -- China has become the second largest exporter to Brazil, trailing the United States, amid growing trade ties between China and Latin American countries.

Trade with China reached 1.43 billion US dollars in October, growing 9.45 percent year on year, according to data from Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. That accounts for 11.6 percent of Brazil's total foreign trade.

Since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has seen exports growing and imports of raw materials from regions like South America also rising.

In 2006, China's trade with Latin American countries reached 70.2 billion dollars, according to China's Ministry of Commerce, and it is expected to rise 40 percent this year.

In Brazil, the continuous appreciation of its currency against foreign currencies led imports to register record highs this year, a tendency that may continue next year.

Purchases from China account for an important part in the growth of Brazilian import, which was boosted by favorable exchange rates, economic growth and domestic income hikes.

Supermarket shelves are increasingly filled with imported products, especially goods from China.

Fernando Ribeiro, an economist with the Foreign Trade Studies Center Foundation, said Brazilian consumers benefit from the inflow of Chinese products.

"To the consumer it is great, because they start to have access to electronic products and other cheaper items. They get to buy a DVD player for 100 reals (about 60 dollars) because of China," he said.

Topping the list of Chinese imports are telephones, liquid crystal displayers, mobile telephone terminals, printed circuit boards, cameras and video cameras, according to Brazil's Foreign Trade Secretariat.