Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced this Wednesday (20) the elevation of the status of the two countries’ global strategic partnership during a state visit by the Chinese leader to Brasília in the midst of a tour region, reinforcing Beijing’s growing diplomatic influence.
Xi and Lula said in a press statement at Palácio da Alvorada that the China-Brazil relationship has become a “community with a shared future for a fairer world and a sustainable planet”, a key slogan of the Chinese president.
They also agreed to find “synergies” between China’s Belt and Road initiative and Brazilian development programs, after Lula declined to formally enroll Brazil in China’s global infrastructure initiative.
READ MORE: At the G20, Brazil seeks to fill the power vacuum that the US left in Latin America
The leaders signed around 40 cooperation agreements to strengthen ties between the two economies with more than US$150 billion in bilateral trade, Lula said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping committed to expanding the cooperation fund to finance strategic infrastructure projects in Brazil, strengthening President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s commitment to partnership with Beijing.
Although investment figures were not disclosed at the end of Xi’s state visit to Brasília, the agreement signed by the two leaders stipulates that priority projects must be presented within 60 days.
“This is another historic moment in the development of China-Brazil relations,” Xi said, adding that China is ready for the two countries to become “golden partners.”
Xi adopted the term “community with a shared future” to formalize what Beijing sees as a positive and comprehensive bilateral relationship with a country that shares geopolitical and economic interests.
The slogan was used last year to describe China’s ties with countries such as Vietnam and Serbia.
Xi’s state visit to Brasília came after two summits in one week: the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Lima and then the G20, with the world’s main economies, in Rio de Janeiro.
While Xi played a central role in both summits, US President Joe Biden arrived as a “lame duck”. lame duckwhen a politician serves a term but has little effective power – , with just two months left in the White House and little room for lasting promises, as his successor, Donald Trump, promises a total overhaul of American foreign policy.
A family photo on the first day of the G20 summit in Rio had Xi front and center, alongside the presidents of Brazil, India and South Africa – China’s partners in the BRICS group of major developing nations and the three consecutive hosts of the G20 from 2023 to 2025.
Biden did not attend that photo session for “logistical reasons,” the White House said.
With Biden powerless and Trump averse to multilateral forums, diplomats and foreign policy experts said Xi’s offensive was filling a vacuum in an unstable global order.
READ MORE: Argentine President Javier Milei acts as Trump’s surrogate at the G20 summit in Rio
China’s parallel meetings with Western powers amid trade and geopolitical tensions, from the US and UK to France and Germany, showed a conciliatory turn from Beijing ahead of another difficult four years facing Trump, said Li Xing, professor at the Guangdong Institute of International Strategies.
“China’s strategy is clear, the stance it is demonstrating is to let go of past resentment,” Li said. “It is definitely an adjustment, and all of this is due to the fact that the China summit This year’s G20 will be in a transition period following the US election.”
Behind the scenes, several diplomats who attended previous G20 summits noted an evolving stance on the part of the Chinese, less focused on their own narrow interests and more proactive in building a broader consensus.
“China is much more participative and much more constructive,” said a Brazilian diplomat, who requested anonymity to discuss the negotiations.
A European diplomat noted that Chinese peers have helped build consensus this year on several fronts, including on topics such as women’s rights where they have not traditionally been active. It seemed like a conscious move to occupy a multilateral forum that Trump is likely to neglect, the diplomat added.
“A place left unoccupied will be occupied by another,” said the European diplomat. “Apparently, China is interested in occupying more than it has so far.”
Wars and convergence of visions
Lula, who received criticism from American and European authorities for shortening his participation in G20 discussions on global conflicts, highlighted a “convergence of views on international security” with Xi Jinping.
Xi reiterated that there is no simple solution to Russia’s war in Ukraine and defended the expansion of international dialogue in favor of peace. Regarding Gaza, the Chinese leader warned of the growing risks of contagion from the conflict.
“We are deeply concerned,” said Xi, through an official interpreter provided by the Chinese government.
Lula stated that the two countries will establish synergies between Brazilian development strategies — such as the New PAC, the South American Integration Routes Program and the Ecological Transformation Plan — and the Belt and Road Initiative. The comment was made during Xi’s reception at Palácio da Alvorada, shortly after the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
With Reuters and Bloomberg
