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In recent years, the world has faced enormous challenges, and countries
around the world have struggled to overcome many difficulties such as the
COVID-19 pandemic, the structural imbalance of the global economy, the armed
conflicts between countries, the intensification of social inequalities, and
climate change. While some countries have met the challenges and difficulties with greater
success than others, one thing is certain we are all in the "same boat". That's
why attempts to achieve success by implementing individualistic, unilateral
policies by some countries will fail and instead have negative impacts on the
world. This brings us to Brazil. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva taking office
after winning a fierce election might have momentarily divided the country, but
with him at the helm of affairs, there is hope that the Brazilian government
will build a better future by implementing policies to combat discrimination and
eradicate social inequality. China and Brazil follow independent foreign policies and both pursue
sustainable development. Therefore, nothing could be more welcome than Lula's
visit to China, which could help establish a series of Sino-Brazilian
partnerships for the benefit of both countries and those beyond. The delegation that accompanies Lula to China is proof of the importance
Brazil attaches to the visit. It will include important Brazilian ministers,
officials and businesspeople. The idea is to ensure that Brazilian officials
already know the outcomes of the talks between Lula and President Xi Jinping and
start the process of implementing them as soon as they return home. Perhaps Lula should discuss with Xi how China eradicated extreme poverty on
schedule — end of 2020 — by lifting about 800 million people out of poverty in
four decades. We know that, to succeed, a poverty alleviation campaign requires
strong economic growth which will increase per capita income and a set of
additional measures which will further improve the social conditions of these
people. For both presidents, the well-being of the people is a priority. Lula may
want to know the details of China's poverty alleviation campaign so he can
implement similar measures to eradicate poverty in Brazil. The idea is to
properly plan and effectively enforce measures to ensure that the large number
of poor in Brazil get what they need, instead of suffering the negative effects
of such a campaign. To get an idea of the seriousness of poverty in Brazil, let's look at data
from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). According to
the IBGE, about 17.9 million people in Brazil, or about 8.4 percent of the total
population, were living in extreme poverty in 2021. During his presidential campaign, Lula made a public commitment that in the
first year of his presidency, he would ask the governors of the 27 federative
units of Brazil to focus on three important infrastructure works for the benefit
of the people. We are talking about 81 possibilities here. And given its
expertise in this field, China will be able to help Brazil a lot. Lula is also likely to ask the Chinese leadership to reinforce China's trade
with Brazil. Increasing the trade basket to include products with greater added
value from Brazil is necessary, because Brazil needs to boost its economic
growth and create more jobs. In the new era, strengthening partnerships and cooperation in different areas
of technology will be of great value to both countries. China is focused on
realizing sustainable, innovation-driven high-quality development by, among
other things, using artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things
and biotechnology. The development of these technologies, the availability of
commodities and other inputs, and self-sufficiency in food will be key to a
country's economic success in the coming years. Besides, strengthening multilateral institutions and economic blocs such as
BRICS should also receive special attention from the two presidents, because
upholding multilateralism is fundamental to the success of countries. And the
China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative can play a key role in both upholding
multilateralism and improving infrastructure connectivity and trade. The fact
that it completes 10 years in 2023 also makes the Belt and Road Initiative
important for the two countries. And by welcoming Belt and Road projects, Brazil
can help expand the initiative in South America due to its representative status
in the region. The environment and ecology are the other area that may feature in the talks
between the two presidents, as China is implementing an effective environmental
protection and biodiversity conservation program to combat climate change. China
can get a close climate partner in Brazil, which has one of the most significant
biological reserves on the planet. And together, they can set goals and take
joint actions with other countries to the benefit of the world. China and Brazil may also discuss how countries can coexist in peace and
harmony. The two sides aim to help maintain global peace and are aware of the
priority actions they need to take in order to better protect the environment
and eradicate social inequalities. For this reason, the meeting of the
presidents raises great hope.
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