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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will kick off his four-day
state visit to China on Wednesday, a trip that is expected to bring bilateral
relations, both politically and economically, to a new level and contribute
positive energy to the complex international situation. Accompanied by hundreds of businesspeople, state governors, congress members
and ministers, Lula will be making his third official visit to China as
Brazilian president. The visit was originally set for March but was postponed
due to Lula's health at the time. It will also be Lula's first trip outside the
Western Hemisphere since taking office for a third term on Jan 1. His visit will take him to Shanghai and Beijing. In Shanghai, he will
participate in former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's inauguration as head
of BRICS' New Development Bank. In Beijing, Lula will meet with President Xi
Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of
the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature. "The two sides have maintained close communication about the visit," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday. "The fact that Lula will lead a
large delegation to China on his state visit so soon after his recovery speaks
to the high importance both sides have attached to this visit and to our
bilateral relations." China stands ready to work with Brazil and take this visit as an opportunity
to upgrade mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation in various sectors and
bring more energy for developing countries to coordinate in unity and jointly
deal with global challenges, Wang said. According to a statement from Lula's press office, around 20 bilateral
agreements are expected to be signed during the visit. An article published by Valor Economico, a Brazilian financial newspaper,
described Lula's visit as "a trip full of expectations". The speed in
rescheduling a high-level visit, something unusual given the complexity of the
agendas, reflects the political will of both countries to make the meeting
happen, it said. The China-Brazil relationship has been closer and trade has increased in a
continuous and sustained way since 2004, when Lula first visited Beijing. In
2009, he visited China for the second time. China has been the South American country's largest trade partner since 2009.
According to the General Administration of Customs, two-way trade reached
$171.49 billion in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent. "During the visit, the two countries are expected to consolidate the
foundation of existing cooperation in traditional sectors such as infrastructure
construction, agriculture and mining, and also expand cooperation in new areas
including the green economy, digital economy and high technology," said Wang
Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China
Institute of International Studies. Bilateral cooperation has already yielded fruit prior to Lula's arrival. On
Feb 7, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, signed a
memorandum of cooperation with the Central Bank of Brazil to establish renminbi
clearing arrangements in Brazil, a move that will bolster bilateral trade and
investment facilitation. Since diplomatic relations were established nearly half a century ago,
China-Brazil ties have maintained steady growth amid changes in the
international landscape and achieved fruitful outcomes in practical cooperation
across the board, setting a good example for major developing countries pursuing
joint development through solidarity and collaboration. According to Wang of the CIIS, the development of China-Brazil relations will
help to push forward China's cooperation with Latin America and deepen China's
relations with regional organizations such as the Community of Latin American
and Caribbean States. "At a time when the international landscape is suffering systematic
volatility and the global governance system is fragmented, the two countries'
coordination and interactions on global hot-spot issues will also reveal the
independent views of developing countries and important emerging market
economies on global security and the international order," he added.
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