Trade and investment between China and Brazil is developing, with China now accounting for more than 40 percent of the South American country’s trade surplus for the first four months of this year, Agência Brasil reports.

“China is not a competitor, it’s our big buyer,” Brazil’s ambassador to the Mainland China, Marcos Caramuru de Paiva, told the Brazilian news agency this week.

He said demand for Brazilian grain and other agricultural products, iron ore and mineral commodities had increased.

“Chinese bidders are in a very good position to bid for Brazilian [infrastructure] contracts because they have access to funding and huge infrastructure expertise,” he added.

About US$10 billion was invested by China in Brazil last year and the total amount invested is more than US$30 billion, the report added.