Beijing promises 'new opportunities' for Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 14, 2023. AFP - KEN ISHII

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mn

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met this Friday, April 14 in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he hopes to strengthen ties. Lula wants to mark Brazil's return to the international stage, after the Bolsonaro era, and demonstrate that his country can play a role in the "global South", an ambition shared by Beijing.

Advertising

Read more

China on Friday promised "new opportunities" for Brazil, during a meeting Friday in Beijing between President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who sharply criticized the omnipresence of the US dollar the day before.

« 

China will pursue high-quality development, accelerate the creation of a new development paradigm and engage in promoting high-level opening-up," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state media. China's development will open up "new opportunities" for Brazil and the world, the source added.

In Shanghai, President Lula had proclaimed the day before that Brazil was "back on the international scene", thus wanting to turn the page of isolation under the presidency of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

The head of state of Latin America's largest economy also lamented that the US dollar is still used for most international trade. "Why should all countries be forced to trade on the basis of the dollar? Who decided that the dollar would be the (reference) currency? " said the Brazilian president. "Today, a country has to buy dollars to export when it could do so in its own currency," he added.

"Brazil is seeking to find a path within Latin America, but also within the global South"

For Emmanuel Véron, a specialist in contemporary China, there is the desire of Lula, who is freshly re-elected at the head of the Federation of Brazil, to leave his mark on the international agenda, precisely in Asia with this visit to China, and which will be followed by a visit of a Brazilian foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East.

« What is interesting to see is that Brazil is seeking to find a path within Latin America, but also within the global South. This explains the increasingly dense relations with China, but which are in continuity with the last twenty or thirty years of bilateral relations between China and Brazil, especially with industrial consortia, agribusiness consortia, with a reprimarization of the Brazilian economy, precisely with the strengthening of Chinese trade and economic ties. »

🇧🇷 🇨🇳 Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is officially welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a ceremony in Beijing at the start of a state
🎥 visit @pfcatterall #AFP #AFPTV ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/PnDBwoiSeg

— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) April 14, 2023

China's ambition to become the leader of the "Global South"

Offensive on all fronts, Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to place Beijing at the center of a new world order. He does not hide his ambition to erect China as the leader of the global South, this space that brings together four-fifths of humanity. This initiative includes the de-dollarization and yuanization of the economies of the global South in a context of international sanctions.

«

The question of de-dollarization, and finally the yuanization of the economies and economies of the global South, is a subject that has been worked on for several months and we see that now, the Chinese are taking action since they have managed to convince, not without difficulty, moreover, the Russians - and in particular, the Russian offensive in Ukraine has precipitated this factor, says Emmanuel Véron. Brazil itself is very much in favour of this type of yuanization of economies. This is also the case for economies in the Middle East, I am thinking of agreements with Saudi Arabia, which is the historic security, military and diplomatic ally of the United States, and we are also thinking of Iran, in a context of international sanctions.

For this specialist of contemporary China, there is a strategic context which is that of the sanctions carried by Washington, and which is precisely shown by Beijing as a kind of front against the global South: "Beijing seeks to be the leader of the global South, trying to advance its pawns on this de-dollarization, this yuanization and to find a leadership path within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, within the BRICS and we have an enlargement of partner countries before the end of the year and next year, which will enrich the ranks of these various non-Western international organizations.

► Read also Brazil: in Shanghai, President Lula visits the Huawei group

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

• China
• Brazil
• Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
• Xi Jinping