Lula Visits Xi Jinping in Effort to Strengthen Brazil-China Relations

Lula and Xi Jinping, accompanied by Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan and Brazilian First Lady Rosângela da Silva, attend a welcome ceremony in Beijing, China. Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Stuckert

On Apr. 14, Brazilian President Lula da Silva met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing to implement new bilateral agreements that should further strengthen Brazil-China relations. According to Chinese state media, Lula voiced a desire to take these relations beyond trade, asserting that "nobody can stop Brazil from continuing to develop its relationship with China."

Xi welcomed Lula with a red carpet in Tiananmen Square. The two reviewed lined Chinese troops waving Brazilian flags. Although Xi took office a few years after Lula ended his first tenure as Brazilian president, Xi addressed Lula as "an old friend of the Chinese people," affirming that deepening links with Brazil was a "diplomatic priority."

The two presidents signed agreements to facilitate science and technology cooperation, expand trade in each other's respective currencies, and boost Brazilian involvement in international affairs. Lula demonstrated support for Xi's 12-point proposal to end the armed conflict in Ukraine, and Xi likewise encouraged Lula's plan to make Brazil a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations. 

China became Brazil's largest trading partner over a decade ago during Lula's first tenure between 2003 and 2011. Only last year, the trade between the two countries reached a new high of $150 billion.

Moreover, the move towards a trading system divorced from the dollar is likely the most pivotal outcome of this meeting. The decision insulates the countries from the fluctuation of the US dollar and stimulates the spread of the Chinese yuan as the new standard trading currency.

Lula gave an impassioned speech in Shanghai the day before the meeting with Xi against the hegemony of the US dollar in the world economy and the International Monetary Fund's "asphyxiating" attitude towards developing countries. The speech was part of the inauguration ceremony of Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as the head of the New Development Bank, also known as the BRICS bank. Lula condemned the IMF for forcing spending cuts on countries like Argentina for bailout loans and questioned the reason why the dollar was used for all trading transactions across the world.

In that same speech, Lula reassured China and the world that "Brazil is back," suggesting that "the time when Brazil was absent from major world decisions is in the past. We are back on the international stage, after an inexplicable absence." 

These promises come after a period of isolation and tension under Lula's predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who drifted away from Beijing as an ally to the Trump administration.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is asserting Brazil's role in global politics. Photo: AP/Eraldo Peres

After Rousseff's ceremony, Lula also visited one of Huawei's research centers and met with the head of China's biggest electric carmaker company, BYD, which will be opening a manufacturing plant in the Brazilian state of Bahia where Ford once operated. Lula was accompanied by 40 high-level officials, including cabinet ministers, governors, and members of Congress. Many Brazilian business executives also participated in these visits. 

This is the fourth official visit Lula has conducted since his inauguration as president in January. His trip to China follows a parade of diplomatic visits by other heads of state like French President Emmanuel Macron and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The increased interest in fostering ties with China signals at the country's growing role as a diplomatic power broker and potential leader of the world order.