(CNN) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is heading to China on a state visit and talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to focus mainly on trade as well as the war in Ukraine.
Lula, 77, originally planned to visit Beijing last month, but was hospitalized due to pneumonia. This Monday, his office announced that he was resuming his trip with the aim of “resuming his relations with the country that has been his main business partner since 2009.”
The Brazilian delegation that arrives in China with Lula this Wednesday includes businessmen, state governors, congressmen and ministers, who seek to sign more than 20 bilateral agreements with China on agriculture, livestock, technology, travel and tourism, among others.
Government figures show China imported the equivalent of more than $89.7 billion worth of Brazilian goods last year and exported nearly $60.7 billion to Brazil, pegging the trade value between the two countries at $150.4 billion.
According to the Brazilian presidency, trade between the two countries “has increased 21 times since Lula’s first visit to China in 2004.” Lula previously served two terms as Brazil’s president and has already paid two official visits to the country.
Among the dozens of agreements that are expected to be finalized during the visit is one on the joint construction of Brazil and China of the CBERS-6 satellites, a model that “has improved technology that allows efficient monitoring of biomes such as the Amazon rainforest even in cloudy days,” according to a Brazilian government brochure released Monday.
During his stay in China, Lula will also attend the inauguration of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Shanghai as director of the BRICS New Development Bank, a trade bloc made up of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Lula greets upon arrival at a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Monday, April 10, 2023. (Credit: Eraldo Peres/AP)
Ukraine
Xi and Lula are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, and both leaders have previously positioned their countries as possible mediators for the conflict.
Like many leaders of developing and middle-income countries, Lula has embraced a hands-off policy in the Ukraine war, rejecting efforts led by US President Joe Biden to unite the world community in opposition. to the invasion of Russia.
In a February interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Lula – who in his previous tenure played an important role during the US-Iran nuclear discussions – predicted that he would “talk a lot with President Xi Jinping about the role China should play in the questions of peace (in Ukraine)”.
“This is my job. This is the job I have to do. I started with the chancellor of Germany (Olaf Scholz). I spoke to (French President Emmanuel) Macron on the phone. I will speak to President Biden now. I will speak to Xi Jinping, with the Indians, with all the countries. We have to have a group of people and countries that talk about peace.”
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira hinted at the hope of a possible consensus among some countries emerging from Lula’s trip, AFP reported earlier this week.
“By the time Lula returns home, a group of mediating countries will have been created,” Vieira was reported as saying.
His visit to China comes amid broader efforts to boost Brazil’s international relations, including a recent trip to Argentina for a meeting of CELAC – a bloc of Latin American and Caribbean states – that also included a delegation from USA.
The trip “will usher in a new era and a new future for China-Brazil relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
After his visit to China, Lula is also scheduled to travel to the United Arab Emirates for a state visit.
Julia Vargas Jones in Sao Paulo contributed to this report
