The move locked out hordes of tourists as well as reporters covering the Chinese leader's visit. Back at Hu's posh hotel on Copacabana beach, several members of the Chinese delegation ventured out for a stroll on the bright sand.

Hu met Sunday with members of Brazil's Chinese community, in another event off-limits to the press, even reporters traveling with his delegation. According to participants, Hu expressed hope in the half-hour meeting of seeing more Chinese investment in Brazil, and said he saw the country as an entry point for Chinese investment in Latin America.

On Monday Hu and his entourage are to visit Brazil's National Institute for Space Exploration (INPE). China and Brazil have been cooperating on the development of Earth observation satellites since 1998 and have so far placed two in orbit.

In October the countries agreed to jointly work on a third satellite, scheduled for placement in orbit in 2006. The satellites are used to observe and plan for urban expansion and resource conservation, as well as to detect river and ocean pollution and deforestation. In Sao Paulo, Hu is also to meet with representatives of the local Chinese community.

According to the Chinese embassy, Sao Paulo has the largest Chinese community in Brazil. He will then dine with Sao Paulo state Governor Geraldo Alckmin. On Tuesday Hu travels to Argentina. Late Saturday, Hu and his wife, Liu Yongqing, were treated to a banquet hosted by Rio de Janeiro state Governor Rosinha Matheus.

Later Sunday, the Chinese leader traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial and industrial center and South America's largest city. Hu has been in Brazil since Thursday on a visit that has included substantial negotiations with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula has taken some heat from industries this weekend for recognizing China as a market economy, the latest move in a deepening relationship between the two nations.

China granted Brazil's meat industry access to its vast market. And Lula got a tacit promise from Hu to back Brazil's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat as he seeks to raise the South American giant's international profile. The two leaders hailed their accords as a strategic association between their countries.

During the UN General Assembly in September, Brazil, Germany, India and Japan launched bids for permanent council seats. The council has five permanent members with veto power: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Ten other nations are elected as non-permanent members for two-year terms each.

Brazil is China's top trade partner in Latin America, and last year the Asian giant became the South American nation's third-largest trading partner, after the United States and Argentina. Lula's recognition of China as a market economy drew fire from Brazil's powerful Federation of Industries in Sao Paulo, which warned that the designation would injure Brazil's own industry. "China is not a market economy," the group said in a statement.

"In recognizing the People's Republic of China as a market economy, the Brazilian government is forcing investment authorities to compare prices of Chinese exports with the going prices in domestic markets. "In its precipitous decision, the government can count on the disapproval of the industry of Sao Paulo," the statement said.

"As a result, Brazilian companies will suffer losses in the face of Chinese products imported at dumping prices. That reality remains clear." Hu, who next week will be among Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in Santiago, touted the benefits of a possible free-trade deal with Chile in an interview published Sunday in the daily El Mercurio.

"Given China and Chile's highly complementary economic sector structures, exports and imports, establishing a free-trade zone will be an option that would benefit both countries," Hu said in answers to questions posed by the daily.

Hu, who was in Brazil on a Latin American tour also set to take him to Argentina and Cuba, was due to take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile between next Friday and Sunday along with US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders.

All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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