China, Brazil complementary in development by playing respective leadership roles: expert

As major emerging economies in the world, China and Brazil are complementary in multi-sectoral development by playing respective leadership roles in their respective regions and by playing their respective advantages and optimizing coordination and collaboration, according to Sergio Rial, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Vibra Energia (Brazil).

When talking with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Saturday, Rial shed light on the cooperation in major areas that can be further expanded in the future between the two countries, including trade, infrastructure and renewable energy.

"So there are a number of things. So when I come to your question around China in Brazil, they complement each other tremendously. They are big countries in their own regions. So they have respective leadership roles in their respective regions," said Rial.

As the largest trading partner of Brazil, China has set a good example in multiple fields, such as infrastructure and logistics, according to the expert.

"China is one of the world's greatest examples of infrastructure where Brazil needs and will continue to probably depend on future investments. I think the third it could be in a number of things, logistics for example. Today, the trade between Brazil and China has increased five, six, seven times, when you look at the last couple of years. Today, China is Brazil's largest trading partner on a number of fronts," he said. As China continues to emerge in the field of new energy, Brazil can seek more new cooperation opportunities as the Latin American country now is pooling its strength to explore the renewable energy sector, according to him.

"China has been a phenomenal example of transforming its energy grid to more renewable. So Brazil is now building a very, very solid wind and solar energy industry. So I think there is again here complementarity where probably China will be able not only to sell solar panels and batteries and everything that has to do with the industry but can also invest and be part of that evolution," Rial said.

China, Brazil complementary in development by playing respective leadership roles: expert

China's e-commerce sector has maintained healthy growth from January to October, with total online retail sales rising by 8.8 percent during the period, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

In the first 10 months this year, the country's online retail sales totaled 12.4 trillion yuan (about 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars). Of this, online retail sales of physical goods reached 10.3 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars), up 8.3 percent year on year, the ministry's data showed.

In October, boosted by the National Day holiday, the 'Double 11' shopping festival and trade-in program, online retail sales maintained steady growth, with rapid increases in the purchase of digital products and service consumption.

For example, online sales of smart home devices and mobile phones rose by 14.2 percent and 12.2 percent year on year, respectively, in October, while sales of range hoods and household stoves surged by 93 percent and 46.8 percent, respectively. Internet service consumption also increased by 15.5 percent.

In addition, the expansion of e-commerce has helped increase online sales of overseas fresh produce by making it easier to reach Chinese consumers.

From January to October, sales of Chilean cherries and Malaysian durians on Chinese e-commerce platforms increased by 107.8 percent and 23.6 percent year on year, respectively, according to the data.

China's online retail sales up 8.8 pct from January to October