The 2023 Brazil–China summit was a four-day

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

, the

President of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

, to China from 11 to 14 April 2023. It was Lula's first visit to China since his third taking office in January 2023. He was accompanied by a delegation of more than 240 CEOs, politicians and government officials and met with the Brazilian business community in China. He also met with

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

, the

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...

and

President of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...

, to discuss various issues, especially the ongoing

war in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

and Brazil–China's potential roles as a mediators between Russia and the West.

Background

After four years of cold relations between the two countries, undermined by attacks against China by former President,

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

, Lula came to office with the mission of "relaunching" the Brazil–China relationship as one of his main goals in the foreign policy of his new mandate. The discussions on how Brazil and China could play a mediating role in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia was also on the agenda. The Brazilian government said Lula's main goal in his visit was to restart trade relations with China. Lula also attended the inauguration of

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...

as President of the BRICS Bank in Shanghai. Lula was scheduled to leave for a visit to China on March 25, but postponed his trip because he was diagnosed with the flu and pneumonia.

Meeting

Shanghai

President of Brazil Lula da Silva and his wife Rosângela Lula da Silva arrive at

Shanghai Pudong International Airport Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of the two international airports serving Shanghai, China. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic flights, while the city's other major airport, Shanghai ...

on April 12, 2023, to begin an official visit to China. the Brazilian delegation, which included dozens of political representatives and more than 240 entrepreneurs, was there precisely to promote the re-escalation of economic and trade cooperation. Lula's first stop in China was Shanghai, instead of Beijing as originally planned, to attend the inauguration of former President Dilma Rousseff as president of the

BRICS New Development Bank The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). According to the agreement, "the bank shal ...

., as well as to visit tech company

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

research and development facilities and the recently inaugurated suzanoasia R&D and Innovation Center. Lula also called to propose an alternative currency to the

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

for trade between them.

Beijing

On the morning of April 14, 2023, President Xi held a welcoming ceremony for President Lula at the square of the Great Hall of the People. One was that in addition to the Brazilian national anthem, the military band specially played a Brazilian song ''Novo Tempo''. On April 14, 2023, President

held talks at the

Great Hall of the People The Great Hall of the People is a state building situated to the west of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China. The People's Great Hall functions as ...

with President of Brazil Lula. After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of trade and investment,

digital economy The digital economy is a portmanteau of digital computing and economy, and is an umbrella term that describes how traditional Brick and mortar, brick-and-mortar economic activities (production, distribution, trade) are being transformed by the ...

, science and technology innovation, information and communication, poverty reduction, quarantine and space. The two sides issued the Joint Declaration of the People's Republic of China and the Federative Republic of Brazil on Deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Agenda priorities

Brazil has put several agenda priorities for the dialogue with his Chinese counterparties: * Revitalize the Brazil–China strategic partnership * Repositioning Brazil on the global stage * Repositioning the

Global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...

as an important actor on the global stage * Discussions on the war in Ukraine and Brazil and China's roles as mediators * Discussions on the role of the United States and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

on the war * Signing of several economic, technological and cultural agreements * Discussions about decrease the dependence the two countries on the dollar * Discussions about the

BRICS BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising ten countriesBrazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The idea of a BRICS-like group can be traced back to Russian foreign ...

membership expansion * Discussions about Brazil's accession to China's

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

References