Brazilian Airlines, the largest air transportation company in Latin America, is planning to explore the Chinese market, with the inauguration of its first direct flight between the two nations expected in August. 

Alberto Fajerman, vice executive president of Brazilian Airlines, told China Daily that Brazil's president is expected to visit China in May and sign an approved destination status (ADS) agreement with the Chinese government.

China now has ADS agreements with 29 countries, excluding twelve EU countries, official sources said.

"In addition to the aviation service, our company operates hotels and travel services in Brazil," said Fajeman.

"So far, China is the second-largest trading partner for Brazil, following the United States, and Brazil receives around 850,000 Chinese every year for business, but there is no direct flight between the two nations yet," says Fajeman.

Taking the potential for tourism and business demand into accounts, Brazilian Airlines is busy preparing for the opening of the direct flight with the opening of its Beijing representative office on Monday.

"We will cooperate with Air China to operate the line, and the initial plan is four flights a week traveling to and from Beijing and some Brazilian key cities," said Fajeman.

To date, Brazilian Airlines only operated one line in Asia which consists of four flights a week between Japan and Brazil.

"Depending on our complete network in South America, our customers can arrive in key cities in any country on the continent conveniently."

"Thanks to connection with the Star Alliance partners, an alliance of strategic cooperation among 15 airlines, our flights can access more than 680 destinations throughout the world," said Fajeman.

According to Fajeman, China is the most important market in the world due to its large scale, huge potential and rapid economic development.

The World Tourism Organization predicts that China will be the fourth-largest source of tourists in the world by 2020, and the number of people traveling overseas will reach 100 million by then.

Chinese tourists made 20.22 million journeys overseas last year, up 20 percent from 2002, say statistics provided by China's tourism administration departments.

Brazil's rich tourism resources and business opportunities seem attractive to the Chinese people and ever-increasing bilateral exchanges indicate our prosperity in China, according to Fajeman.

Sources from the Brazilian Embassy in China said that 277 Sino-Brazilian joint ventures were set up in China by the end of 2002. These ventures are mainly engaged in the manufacturing industry and are located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Harbin.

(China Daily April 2, 2004)