China and Brazil have signed a deal to set up a special relationship between sister ports the Chinese port of Guangzhou, and Brazil's busiest Port of Acu. CGTN's Lucrecia Franco has more on this new partnership.

This is Port of Acu, the largest port complex in Latin America. Located in Sao Joao da Barra in the southeast state of Rio de Janeiro, the complex has a total area of 130 square kilometers and nine terminals. And this is the port of Guangzhou, which became Acu's sister-port in May. Guangzhou is the world's fifth largest port and a regional hub in southern China, handling more than 600 million tons of cargo in 2018. With the agreement, Port of Acu managers have high hopes for the only one hundred percent private industrial port in Brazil, which started operating in 2014.

MAARTJE DRIESSENS MANAGER OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, PORT OF ACU "When we look at the port of Guangzhou, they have about fifty sister-ports. They are connected, for example, with Africa, with the port of Lagos in Nigeria. They are connected with ports in Indonesia, the United States, in Asia, in Europe. So, for us being a part of this club is a real privilege because it really allows us to become a more mature port. And, basically, Guangzhou really opens the doors to many port authorities worldwide."

And there are more good reasons for this port's interest in China: iron ore. Brazil is China's second-largest iron ore supplier. This port has a dedicated automated terminal to export iron ore-a raw material that is key for China's industrial expansion.

LUIZ FRANCISCO DA SILVA IRON ORE TERMINAL OPERATIONS MANAGERPORT OF ACU "It is the most advanced technology to export iron ore, since the stock until the reclaimer of the material because we control all parts of this process, from the amount of material that we receive until the quality of the product we stock."

The port has an automated system that can handle more than 26 million tons of iron ore per year. The ore comes from nearby mines through pipelines. And, after a drying process, it's ready to load onto giant ships that sail mostly to China, including Guangzhou, its brand new sister-port.

LUCRECIA FRANCO SAO JOAO DA BARRA, BRAZIL "But China's demand for Brazilian commodities is not the only reason for the partnership. The idea is also to share expertise and attract Chinese companies to operate within this young industrial port."

MAARTJE DRIESSENS MANAGER OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, PORT OF ACU "We are quite a new port so we have state-of-the-art infrastructure so this guarantees a high productivity, high efficiency. So, I think is it is a unique selling point of the Port of Acu. Moreover, we are already operating. We have terminals. So, basically, Chinese companies that want to export and import and produce they have all the infrastructure they need."

A clear indication of how much interest Brazil has in deepening cooperation with China, Brazil's top trading partner, with nearly 100 billion dollars in bilateral trade last year. Lucrecia Franco, CGTN, Sao Joao da Barra, Brazil.