Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's Trade Minister Luiz Fernando Furlan will urge Chinese officials this week to limit shipments of shoes, textiles and toys to avert factory closures in South America's largest economy.

Furlan, who is on a three-day trip to Beijing, is scheduled to meet Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai today to ask him to check export growth so that Brazil doesn't have to adopt restrictions on the country's goods, the Brazilian Trade Ministry said in a statement. Representatives from Brazil's shoe, textiles and toy industries are accompanying Furlan.

China, the world's biggest exporter of textiles and shoes, has boosted sales of clothing, tissues and footwear to Brazil, threatening to drive local manufacturers out of business within three years unless the surge is contained, said Elcio Jacometti, who heads the association representing Brazil's $3.5 billion shoe industry.

``We have to protect our industry from the Chinese invasion,'' Jacometti, 49, said in a telephone interview from Franca, a shoe-producing hub in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most industrialized state. ``If we don't, the industry will perish.''

Chinese footwear sales to Brazil doubled to 9.4 million pairs this year through August from the year-earlier period, said Elizabeth Renz, a spokeswoman for the association.

At the same time, a strengthening currency -- Brazil's real has gained 44 percent since May 2004 -- is eroding that country's competitiveness.

The real rose 0.3 percent to 2.2217 per dollar at 8:07 a.m. New York time from 2.2272 per dollar late yesterday, its strongest since May 2001.

Growth Target

The $25 billion Brazilian textiles industry faced a 49 percent surge of Chinese imports to $229 million in the first eight months of this year, said Roberto Lima, a spokesman for the textiles association. Toy purchases from the Asian country have more than doubled from the first eight months of last year to $20.8 million.

Brazil will ask China to limit annual sales of these goods to the 2002-2004 average, allowing for 5 percent growth each year, Synesio Batista da Costa, president of the country's toy industry association, said in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo.

``The Chinese government needs to understand that the attack is very heavy,'' Costa, 49, who is also vice president of electronic-goods maker Grupo CCE, said. ``Ideally, they would control the pace themselves without the need for Brazil to set safeguards.''

Vale's Agnelli

A spokesman at China's embassy in Brasilia didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

Roger Agnelli, chief executive of Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, Brazil's largest exporter, said in an interview Sept. 5 that the South American country should hold talks with China before imposing any limit on imports, after meeting with Furlan in Brasilia. Agnelli, whose company, the world's largest producer of iron-ore, increased sales 42 percent in 2004 over 2003 as demand from China soared, said he asked Furlan to consider a negotiated solution before enforcing any trade barrier.

``China is a strategic trade partner with whom Brazil must always seek consensus,'' said Agnelli, 46, who is also the head of a Brazil-China business council. ``China sees Brazil as a long-term strategic partner, so it's important to cultivate this relationship.''

Brazil should also seek help from Chinese authorities to curb illegal shipments from the Asian country instead of limiting legitimate imports, Agnelli said.

Dilma Rousseff, chief of staff for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said on Sept. 13 that Brazil plans to limit imports of Chinese textiles and shoes to avert factory closures.

Brazil's total imports from China grew 48 percent this year through August from a year earlier to $3.31 billion while exports to the Asian country rose 6 percent to $4.1 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Caminada in Brasilia at at ccaminada1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 29, 2005 08:11 EDT