China-Brazil Innovation Week has begun in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, the China News Service (CNS) reports.

The Chinese state-run news agency says that during the week the spotlight will be shone on the digital economy, green technology, biomedical and smart city development industries in Brazil.

The report quotes a Ningbo official, Zhang Minghua, as saying the purpose is to prompt Sino-Brazilian economic engagement in fields other than conventional fields.

Brazilian Consul-General in Shanghai Gilberto Fonseca-Guimarães de Moura told the opening ceremony on Wednesday that China-Brazil Innovation Week could open new avenues for Sino-Brazilian cooperation.

Mr Moura remarked that Ningbo and the southern Brazilian city of Santos are twin cities, engaging with each other economically and culturally, CNS says.