US$ 100 m to build Antarctic base for Brazil

State-owned China National Electronics Imports and Exports Corporation (CEIEC) has been awarded a US$ 100 m contract to build a new Antarctic research station for the Brazilian navy.

Brazil’s original Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station was destroyed in a fire in 2012.

The new 5,000-m² base, able to accommodate 64 people and incorporating 18 laboratories, has been designed by Chilean firm Studio 41, winner of an international design competition in 2013.

CEIC will also build a heliport, as well as the solar panels and wind turbines that will power the station.

The announcement of the contract came as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang continued a week-long Latin American visit, which began in Brazil.

While there, the Chinese leader met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and the pair reportedly signed 35 agreements and contracts with a value of US$ 53 billion.

According to reports, one of the agreements was for US$ 7 billion of financial aid for the scandal-hit energy conglomerate Petrobras.

Feasibility studies are also planned for a Chinese-built rail line linking Brazil's Atlantic coastline with the Pacific coastline in Peru; a line that would cut through both the Amazon and the Andes mountain range.