SAO PAULO, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazil is banking on China to remain as its leading partner when the South American country undertakes economic reforms to spur growth, Vice President Hamilton Mourao said on Monday.

"We are making the reforms needed so that Brazil can again see a new economic cycle, and we are counting on China as a partner along this path," Mourao told participants at an annual gathering of the Brazil-China Business Council in Sao Paulo.

Next month, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to visit China, which has been Brazil's biggest trade partner since 2009, as part of the efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation. "Opportunity and strategy go hand in hand between Brazil and China," Mourao said.

"We are working pragmatically and with long-term vision so that the coming decades are fruitful. The dynamism of our relationship shows no signs of slowing down or petering out, on the contrary, it points towards better and bigger ties in investment and trade, science and technology, defense, education and other sectors," said Mourao.

Brazil is following a "liberal agenda" whose priority is to balance public-sector accounts "to reestablish confidence and give greater importance to investment in order to resume the path to growth," Mourao said.

"At the same time, we are advancing with China towards new fields for cooperation," he said, adding that Brazil wants to expand its exports to China beyond raw materials.

Recalling his visit to China in May, Mourao said he spoke with the Chinese government and business leaders about Brazil's reforms, including privatizing state-owned companies and offering operating concessions, and demand for investment to promote technological innovation.

Referring to the trade tensions among some major economies of the world, Mourao said that the international community "is nervously following the escalation in tariff barriers and the rising risk of a global recession."

For his part, China's Ambassador to Brazil Yang Wanming also warned that rising protectionism "threatens" international trade. To counter that trend, a "joint strategy" for cooperation is essential, he said.

Noting that China is the biggest consumer market of the world, Yang said China's achievements have brought benefits to the world and offered huge opportunities for Chinese-Brazilian cooperation.

The demand for each other's products and markets, the complementarity of bilateral cooperation and the continuous opening-up of China provide an important guarantee for the steady growth of China-Brazil trade, said the Chinese ambassador.