From Asia Times (link):
Now China appears to want a trade deal that would allow it to sample – and perhaps help ultimately reproduce – Brazil’s success with alcool, as ethanol is called in Portuguese. With an economy booming at a 10% growth rate, transforming the world’s most populated country from a nation of peasants into one of middle-class consumers, China’s dependency on oil and gasoline is growing untenable.
With the price of oil hovering at record levels, China is looking seriously at alternative fuel sources, and Brazil’s experience with ethanol is attracting serious notice in Beijing.