Chongqing -  The Smart China Expo (SCE) 2022 was held in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from August 22 to 24, providing the platform for companies and institutions worldwide to connect and exchange business opportunities. iChongqing interviewed Jose Mario Antunes, the Chief Operating Officer at the Sao Paulo State Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (InvestSP), to see how the SCE strengthens the institutional cooperation between Chongqing and Sao Paulo State.

Sao Paulo is the most important Brazilian state, accounting for 35% of the country's total economy. Sao Paulo is the only Brazilian state that has formally established an office in China.

"China is the first international office of Sao Paulo State that represents the importance Sao Paulo State gives to the partnership with China," said Jose.

InvestSP works in three areas, the first of which is to promote Brazilian companies' exports to Chinese consumers to receive the best quality products and services. The second part is to support Brazilian companies in their internationalization process to the Chinese market by providing them with training and setting them up for success. And the third part is providing Chinese investors with government support to attract investments to Sao Paulo State.

Jose Mario Antunes attended the Smart China Expo for the first time last year. Chongqing and Sao Paulo State's institutional relationship has been strengthened since then by InvestSP.

"As a result of our participation, we were able to contact many companies from Chongqing and arrange a series of online activities and segments ranging from food and beverage, like coffee, honey, meat, sugar, soybeans, and other products, to biotechnology and health industries," Jose explained.

On May 26 this year, the  Chongqing-Brazil Trade Investment Matchmaking Conference online was held, allowing many companies from both sides to connect with potential partners.

Jose thinks that Chongqing plays a unique role as it is strategically positioned and has a robust and vibrant domestic market. "We plan to keep strengthening our institutional relationship with Chongqing, helping Brazilian companies to strengthen the relationship with companies from Chongqing."

(Li Yan and Tan Sirui, as interns, also contributed to the report.)