A Brazilian trade mission will visit China this month to promote Brazil’s beef exports. Some firms from that country last month received authorisation to sell there, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua has reported.

In the short term, China is interested in opening branches of some of its banks in Angola, as part of the economic co-operation between the two countries. The news was given on Thursday in Beijing by the Chinese counterpart of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation between China and Angola.

China will give priority to financing energy and agriculture infrastructure projects in Angola as part of an ongoing bilateral co-operation, Angola news agency Angop reported.

There should be “closer co-operation” among the customs authorities of countries along what China has dubbed the new ‘Silk Road’ in order to improve trade, said Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang. The ‘Silk Road’ is a reference to modern countries whose territories make up what was once an historic trade route linking China and the West.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s recent visit to four countries in Latin America, including Brazil, ushers a new era for bilateral co-operation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, quoted by China’s official news agency Xinhua.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday highlighted the role of economic reforms in China’s overall development. Mr Xi said that reform is key to boosting such progress and that China should maintain its “strategic focus”.

Angola is to start next month a US$750 million project to produce ethanol and sugar, Bloomberg News reported.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s tour of South America brings China and Brazil closer together, said Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Centre. Mr Li’s tour concluded this week.

Brazilian exports of crude oil to China more than tripled in April, according to figures released by China’s General Administration of Customs over the weekend.

A subsidiary of Chinese firm Jinan Sijian Group Construction Co will be in charge of rebuilding a teacher training school in Cape Verde, said the Chinese Embassy in the African country.

Mozambique is to post the fastest growth rate this year among Portuguese-speaking Countries in Africa, according to a new report jointly published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme.

China will slash import tariffs on selected consumer goods starting from June 1 to boost the economy, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday.