Brazilian firm Felsberg e Associados has been granted a license from the Ministry of Justice allowing its Shanghai office, which opened last year, to practice Brazilian law in the country. With this news, the firm has became the third Latin American law firm to obtain a license in the country, after Noronha Advogados and Duarte Garcia, Caselli Guimaraes e Terra.

"This is a very important step forward, as many firms remain waiting for their license for more than two years and others even have their requests rejected," said Rodrigo do Val Ferreira, who is responsible for the firm's Shanghai office.

Before the licence was granted, most of the China-related legal issues have been handled by the China desk in its SÆo Paulo office. The firm is now looking to hire additional lawyers in China, as the economic ties between China and Latin America continue to strengthen.

"Countries that are rich in natural resources, such as Brazil, have benefited a lot from the growth of the Chinese economy. In addition, we have seen more and more Chinese imports into the region in recent years," Ferreira said.

According to MOFCOM's statistics, bilateral trade volume between China and Brazil in the first 10 months of 2008 reached US$42.54bn, up by 81% from the same period last year. Currently, Brazil is China's biggest trade partner in Latin America.