The “Acquario do Ceará” aquarium project was presented on Tuesday to officials of Chinese group Fosun International Limited by the governor of the Brazilian state, Camilo Santana, who is in China on an official mission, the state government said.

At the meeting held in Beijing, there was the possibility of establishing a partnership for the completion of the construction and subsequent management of the aquarium, located on Iracema beach in Fortaleza.

Construction began in 2012, but after the state government invested 138 million reais (US$43 million), the construction came to a standstill for more than a year, and the governor announced in early 2017 that he would not spend more public money on the project.

Santana also said that the next step will be to set up a working group to study how best to make a public-private partnership possible so that “Acquario do Ceará” can finally be completed and put into operation.

Acquario do Ceará will be the largest aquarium not only in Latin America, but also in the southern hemisphere, with an ocean tank with a capacity of 7.5 million litres, an experimental tank for sharks with 1.5 million litres, 21 freshwater tanks and an area for penguins, among other facilities.

The commercial mission of the state government in China ends on Thursday with a meeting between the governor and investors interested in the construction of the Ceará Refinery in Pecém.