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Portugal's government said on Thursday that China Three Gorges Corp. won the bidding for its 21% stake in EDP-Energias de Portugal SA with an offer of €2.69 billion ($3.51 billion), in the first of a series of sales of state-owned assets under the country's austerity program.

The deal marks the first time a mainland Chinese firm acquired a significant stake in a southern European company, and may portend other such moves as cash-strapped European governments from Madrid to Athens have been clamoring for Chinese funding to help them finance gaping budget deficits.

For government-controlled China Three Gorges, which operates the $23-billion Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River, the transaction opens doors to EDP's renewable energy assets in Brazil, a key emerging power. The Portuguese company is a major power producer there, operating a sizable fleet of hydroelectric plants and supplying more than 2 million customers with energy.

The investment will help China Three Gorges "showcase its superiority in hydropower, clean energy project construction and power production," Chairman Cao Guangjing said in a statement.

It also shows how Portugal's centuries-old links with Brazil and Africa are now making the cash-strapped country an attractive investment for Chinese companies, underscoring a shift in world power that has seen emerging economies asserting their might over newly fragile developed countries.

Portugal is selling its crown jewel assets as part of a €78 billion bailout agreement it entered into with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Under the terms of the rescue, Portugal has committed to cut government spending and its budget deficit.

"The privatization program is not only important because it gives us access to a source of financing," Portugal's Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said on Thursday. "It also shows that one can diversify such financing sources."

Portugal's Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque said Chinese banks behind China Three Gorges are willing to provide financing to other Portuguese companies.

The Chinese firm, which outbid German heavyweight E.ON AG and Brazil's Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras SA, has big ambitions but a small international profile for now. Portugal's government expects China Three Gorges to invest over €8 billion in EDP to support its expansion plan. The Chinese company also wants to tap EDP's experienced management team to develop its international businesses.

As weak Euro-zone economies shed prized assets through ambitious privatization programs to cut debt, Portugal is attracting significant investments from China because of its presence in former colonies that are resurfacing as red-hot markets, rich in natural resources.

Portugal's Galp Energia SGPS SA, for example, recently closed a $5.19 billion deal to sell a 30% stake in its Brazilian unit to China Petrochemical Corp. Galp need cash for future investments linked to its 10% share in Brazil's largest oil project.

"Portugal has big attractiveness because it knows Africa and South America well," said Ricardo Salgado, chief executive of Banco Espirito Santo SA, which recently received a $300 million credit facility from China Development Bank Corp. "Portugal is today a platform for investments to those countries," he added.

Like its domestic peers, Banco Espirito Santo controls a bank in oil-rich Angola, BES Angola. BES and its Chinese counterpart agreed to cooperate in Portuguese-speaking markets, where the Asian giant and its companies are doing an increasing amount of business.

China bought $57.7 billion in goods from eight Portuguese-speaking markets led by Brazil and Angola from January to September, up 23% from a year ago, according to Chinese government data. Chinese exports to those countries rose 34% in that period to $28.8 billion.

Following EDP's stake sale, the next asset up for grabs in Portugal is power grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais SGPS SA, expected to be sold early next year.

For Portuguese companies, investments from a deep-pocketed country with a high-growing consumer market are welcome at a time when domestic demand and rising unemployment are hammering profitability. Portugal's economy is expected to contract through 2013.

In Europe, EDP produces and distributes electricity in Portugal, its largest market, and Spain. It also will provide China Three Gorges with sizeable renewable energy assets in the U.S. with a total capacity of 3,323 megawatts.

EDP's other shareholders include Spain's power utility Iberdrola SA, which holds 6.8%, Spanish savings bank Cajastur with 5% and Portuguese group José de Mello with 4.8%. The company has a market value of more than €8 billion.

—Stefani Qi and Liyan Qi in Beijing and David Roman in Madrid contributed to this article.

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