GUANGZHOU, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese port of Guangzhou and Brazilian port of Acu signed an agreement Wednesday to establish a sister-port relationship.

The agreement was signed at the 2019 World Ports Conference, which opened Wednesday in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong Province.

After the establishment of the sister-port relationship, Acu will have a closer cooperation on information exchange and collaborative development with Guangzhou, which is an important starting point for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, said Tessa Major, chief commercial officer of the Port of Acu.

For young ports like Acu, Chinese ports have become a benchmark in areas such as port infrastructure, logistics and management experience, Major said.

A regional hub and a key container port in southern China, Guangzhou handled more than 610 million tonnes of cargo and about 22 million standard containers in 2018.

Starting operation in 2014, the Port of Acu has nine terminals, including one that can handle 26.5 million tonnes of iron ore every year, according to the official website of the port.