Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said this Friday that he wants to work with Beijing to “balance global geopolitics” and “expand trade” at a meeting with National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji.
“We want to raise the level of strategic partnership between our countries, expand trade flows and, together with China, balance global geopolitics,” said the head of the Brazilian state, who ends his two-day visit to China this Friday.
Recalling that Brazil was the first country to recognize China as a market economy, Lula said that the partnership between Brazil and Beijing “has the potential to strengthen new relationships among developing countries at the global level.”
The meeting took place at the Great Hall of the People adjacent to Tiananmen Square in downtown Beijing. The National People’s Congress is the highest legislative body in China.
During Lula da Silva’s first two terms, between 2003 and 2011, trade and political relations between Brazil and China intensified, marked in particular by the formation of the BRICS emerging economies bloc, which also includes Russia, India and Africa. .
The group first met in 2009 – without South Africa at the time – in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and soon developed an agenda to reform the international order, aiming to increase the role of developing countries in organizations such as the United States of America. Nations, the World Bank, or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In general, the BRICS represent about 40% of the world’s population and 24% of the gross world product.
According to Beijing and Moscow, the rise of the BRICS illustrates the emergence of a “multipolar world” – an expression that concentrates in itself the staunch opposition of the two countries to Western “hegemonism” and, in particular, the United States.
Since 2009, China has been Brazil’s main trading partner, with bilateral trade growing from US$9 billion (€8.3 billion) in 2004 to US$150 billion (€139 billion) by 2022. Brazil in particular plays an important role in food security, accounting for more than 20% of the Asian nation’s agricultural imports.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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