Brazil seeks partnership with China on joint biofuel projects

Brazil is seeking to partner with China on joint biofuel projects in other countries, a senior Brazilian government official said. Brazilian Vice Minister for Energy and High Technology Andre Amado met with officials from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s main economic planning agency, and oil majors, China National Petroleum Crop. and China Petrochemical Corp. China won’t plant sugarcane for ethanol as it would displace land for food production, so projects in third countries, especially developing countries in Asia or Africa, would be of interest to it, he said. On how Chinese energy companies and officials had responded to the idea, Amado said, “I haven’t had any definite answer yes or no. It was in the way, a new thing to them. They are interested, but they have to evaluate it.” (March 31, 2010)