Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Yang Wanming has said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s recent visit to Beijing started a new stage in the development of the Sino-Brazilian partnership, the Chinese Embassy in Brasilia says.

The embassy issued a written statement quoting Mr Yang as saying in an article he wrote for a Brazilian newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, that Mr Bolsonaro and his host in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping, witnessed there the signing of Sino-Brazilian agreements covering political or economic matters including trade, customs controls, energy, technology and education.

Mr Yang said he expects more Chinese tourists to visit Brazil and more Chinese businesspeople to do business there after Mr Bolsonaro had issued a general invitation to Chinese visitors, without having to obtain a visa.

Mr Xi is due to visit Brazil next month for a meeting of the heads of government of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the Chinese Embassy in Brasilia quotes the ambassador as saying.