Brazil's new president, Dilma Rousseff, is make forging greater ties with the world's other emerging a major part of her presidency.
The country's first female president - who officially took office on January 1 - is thought to want to encourage growth and investment through lucrative relations with Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Brazil's abundant natural resources have already created a close relationship with China, and the recent discovery of new oil fields is likely to make Rousseff only more keen draw the greatest benefit from them.
