Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit China between March 26 and March 31, a Chinese government source said Thursday.
The visit of the Brazilian head of state was confirmed by China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying via the social network Twitter, after several international bodies put forward the same information last month. The spokesperson’s note was published in Portuguese and English.
Chinese diplomacy, when questioned by the Lusa bureau, said only that it was waiting “as soon as possible” for Lula da Silva’s visit and recalled that Brazil’s president is an “old friend” of the Chinese people.
During Lula da Silva’s first two terms, between 2003 and 2011, the commercial and political relationship between Brazil and China intensified, notably characterized by the formation of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, which also includes Russia, India and Africa . .
Since 2009, China has been Brazil’s main trading partner, with bilateral trade increasing from USD 9 billion (EUR 8.43 billion) in 2004 to USD 135 billion (EUR 126.5 billion). ), in 2021.
In recent years, China’s share of Brazil’s exports has exceeded 30%, given the Asian country’s demand for raw materials, especially soybeans and iron ore.
Between 2007 and 2020, China invested a total of 66 billion dollars (61.8 billion euros) in Brazil.
However, relations between Beijing and Brasília cooled during the tenure of Bolsonaro, who seized power promising to reformulate Brazil’s foreign policy, endangering a rapprochement with the United States and decades of alliance with the emerging world.
Brazil’s now replaced Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo even adopted hostile rhetoric towards China.
Source: DN
