Brazil expects a 20-billion-USD cooperation fund with China to finance priority projects in infrastructure in the South American country by March, including the construction of roads, ports and railways, Reuters cited an official as saying.

Jorge Arbache, the Planning Ministry's foreign affairs secretary, said that the fund will be used to finance railroads that link the production areas of soy and corn in Brazil to ports.

Arbache said that the construction of the railroads will benefit both Brazil and China as the railroads will reduce Brazil's export costs to China.

The Brazil-China Cooperation Fund, to be financed with 15 billion U.S. dollars from China and 5 billion from Brazil, will help Brazil with its budget deficit and help Brazil to get out of the ongoing recession which is likely to continue for a third year.

Since 2009, China has been Brazil's largest trading partner, with trade amounting to 66.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.

China exported 527 million U.S. dollars services to Brazil while importing 254 million U.S. dollars in services from Brazil in 2015.