Brazil hopes that it and China can improve their cooperation and develop bilateral relations to a new level, Brazilian Ambassador to China Valdemar Carneiro Leao said recently.

"I think China and Brazil will make a qualitative leap in the next few years in cooperation on innovation, space, energy and infrastructure," Leao said at a get-together of ambassadors from China and Latin American countries in Beijing last Friday.

Brazilian Ambassador to China Valdemar Carneiro Leao says the two countries will make leaps in cooperation on space, infrastructure and energy in the next few years. Bruno Maestrini / China Daily

He said Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Brazil later this year and participate in the Sixth BRICS summit.

"For Brazil, Xi's visit will involve multiple tasks including the China-Brazil relations, regional development and the development of the multilateral relationship in this area," Leao said.

He said the great distance between China and Latin America is no longer a problem in the modern world.

Brazil wants to maintain its close partnership with China in the 21st century and develop that relationship in a broader area, Leao said.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China.

During those 40 years, bilateral trade between the two experienced rapid growth from only $17.4 million in 1974 to more than $90 billion in 2013, and China surpassed the United States to become Brazil's largest trade partner in 2009.

"Brazil values China's role in its economic development, especially the large amount of Chinese investment in Brazil's energy and infrastructure," said Sun Hongbo, a researcher on China-Latin American relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Brazil's economy increased by 2.4 percent in 2013, 1.4 percentage points higher than the previous year. Observers think this development is mainly due to Brazil's large amount of infrastructure projects and foreign investment in the country.

"Brazil needs more investment to develop its electricity and energy industry because the high cost of energy has already became a major obstacle for its economic growth. Only China is able to help Brazil," Sun said.

In 2013, two Chinese state-owned oil companies, China National Offshore Oil Corp and China National Petroleum Corp, won a 35-year production-sharing contract with three other international oil companies to develop Brazil's Libra oilfield.

China's State Grid also participated in the construction of projects that support Brazil's Belo Monte dam, including building a 2,092-kilometer-long transmission line.

Many Chinese companies have entered the Brazilian market and are currently involved in various industries including infrastructure, electricity, oil and automotives.

"Brazil is very strong in high-tech industry, especially bio-energy and space technologies, so I think the two countries will focus more on scientific cooperation," Sun said.

Xi's visit to Brazil is also viewed as a chance to enhance communications between companies from the two countries.

"The companies on both sides need to better understand each other. Brazil also wants its companies to get into China's market, so it is very important for them to learn more about the regulations of the other's market," Sun said.

"It is necessary for the governments to build platforms for the two sides to communicate but politicians can not replace the companies in economic cooperation," he added.