China remained Brazil’s largest trade partner in 2014, despite a 6-percent drop in bilateral trade.

Nearly 1,700 Chinese people were hired to work in Mozambique last year, said the Chinese Embassy in Mozambique, quoting figures from the Mozambican Ministry of Labour.

Companies in Cape Verde had a slightly better year in 2013, with revenue going up, said the Chinese Embassy.

Brazil is set to implement a string of difficult measures that, despite negative short-term effects, will help to put economic growth back on track, Planning and Budget Minister Nelson Barbosa said.

Portugal’s unemployment rate rose in November to 13.9 percent from 13.6 percent in October, figures released on Tuesday by the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed.

The International Monetary Fund says Mozambique’s economy “remains robust”. Growth is forecast at 7.5 percent for 2014, while inflation is expected to be low.

China has scrapped its limit on exports of rare earth minerals. The new policy was implemented on January 1.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged Guangdong Province to deepen its integration with neighbouring Macao and Hong Kong, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The consumer confidence index in Portugal stabilised in December at -22.3 points, the highest value since May 2002, says the latest report from Statistics Portugal, the country’s official statistics bureau. But the economic climate indicator slightly cooled in November and December, after stabilising at the highest value since July 2008, said the report.

China was the main importer of Angolan products in the third quarter of 2014, according to data published this week by the Angolan National Statistics Institute. Portugal was the main exporter of products to Angola during the period.

The government of Angola has proposed to representatives of international organisations an increase in funding for agricultural programmes under the National Development Plan, the Ministry for Agriculture said in a statement.

Mozambique has the potential to be the world’s third-largest producer of natural gas, after Qatar and Australia. But the country needs to secure between US$20 billion and US$25 billion in foreign investment, according to a report by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), quoted by news portal Macauhub.