BRASILIA, July 17 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, vowed here Thursday to cooperate closely on a railway project that runs across the South American continent.

In his talks with Rousseff, Xi called upon the two countries to carry out strategic cooperation in high-speed railway construction and make concerted efforts on the planned transcontinental rail in particular.

The track, which will link the Brazilian Atlantic coast with the Peruvian Pacific coast, will play an important part in boosting Brazil's economic growth as well as regional development, Rousseff said.

Brazil, she added, is ready to join hands with China and Peru to guarantee the success of the project.

On Wednesday, when meeting with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Xi proposed a trilateral work group be established to navigate their cooperation in all related aspects, including the planning, design, construction and operation of the transcontinental rail.

China, Xi told Humala, attaches great importance to the mutually beneficial cooperation in infrastructure construction with Latin American countries, and stands ready to maintain communication with Peru and Brazil on the particular project.

The Peruvian leader, for his part, expressed readiness to work with China and Brazil on the transcontinental railway project for the benefit of all the three peoples.

Xi is in Brasilia for a state visit to Brazil, where he has taken part in a summit of the emerging-market bloc of BRICS and is also scheduled to attend a China-Latin America summit.

Brazil is the first leg of Xi's ongoing Latin America tour, which will also take him to Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba.