BRASILIA: Chinese President Xi Jinping was greeted by his Brazilian counterpart on Wednesday as he began a state visit to the capital Brasilia, after attending G20 and APEC summits in Latin America. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife welcomed Xi on the red carpet with great pomp, including horse-mounted guards, a military brass band playing their national anthems, and lines of children waving Chinese and Brazilian flags. Xi’s turn in Brazil’s capital comes fresh off his attendance on Monday and Tuesday at a G20 summit held in the Brazilian coastal city of Rio de Janeiro, and an APEC summit last week in Lima, Peru. The Chinese leader figured prominently at both those summits, in contrast with outgoing US President Joe Biden who cut a spectral figure as fellow leaders looked past him, politically, to the coming presidency of his elected successor Donald Trump.
Xi, who has said he will seek to “further enhance” ties with Brasilia with Lula, is bracing for rocky years ahead for Chinese trade with the West, particularly with the United States. China and Brazil have sought to position themselves as leaders of the Global South at a time of worldwide uncertainty, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. “The Global South is on a collective rise,” Xi wrote in an article published in Brazilian media ahead of his visit. Both China and Brazil have sought to mediate in the Ukraine war while declining to sanction fellow BRICS member Russia for its war.
China is Brazil’s biggest trading partner overall, with two-way commerce exceeding $160 billion last year. Xi looked forward to talks with Lula “on further enhancing China-Brazil relations, promoting synergy of the two countries’ development strategies, international and regional issues of common interest,” state news agency Xinhua forecast. Brazil, in turn, will push for increasing exports of value-added products, said its secretary for Asia, Eduardo Paes.
A visit to Beijing this year by Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin was seen as paving the way for Brazil to potentially join China’s Belt and Road Initiative to stimulate trade — a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand China’s clout overseas. South American nations that have signed up include Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Xi inaugurated South America’s first Chinese-funded port while in Lima last week for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where he also met with Biden.
“We encourage Brazil and our allies in general to evaluate with open eyes the risks and benefits of a rapprochement with China,” State Department spokeswoman Natalia Molano said. Wednesday’s meeting between the leaders of the world’s second- and seventh-most populated countries comes as Brazil and China mark 50 years of diplomatic ties. — AFP
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Publish date : 2024-11-20 02:48:00
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