After the welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Palace of the People, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva went to a closed-door meeting with the President of China, Xi Jinping, this Friday 14. In all, 15 bilateral agreements will be signed in conversations between the two presidents, on topics such as agriculture, the media and science and technology.
Also, it is possible that both are talking about the war situation in Ukraine: Brazil is trying to emerge, on the international scene, as a nation that could help broker a solution between Ukraine and China.
Among the agreements is the facilitation of trade between the two countries, as well as research and innovation.
There are agreements that provide for co-production for television and cooperation between the public news agencies of both countries. There are also agreements for health certifications and certifications for the entry of products of animal origin.
Lula and First Lady Janja Lula da Silva arrived at the Grand Palace of the People in Beijing on Friday to be welcomed by Xi Jinping. The reception took place outdoors, in the square in front of the building, next to Praça da Paz Celestial this Friday afternoon in China, still early in the morning in Brazil.
At the end of Friday afternoon, there will be a gift exchange ceremony between the two presidents, the recording of photos and, finally, an official dinner, hosted by the Chinese government.
Lula promises to speak to the press immediately after this dinner at the Brazilian embassy in Beijing.
The Brazilian delegation, which arrived in Shanghai on the night of Wednesday 12, is the first to visit China after the choice of the new composition of the main offices of the Chinese government, which took place in the twin sessions of the National People’s Congress and the People’s Political Consultative Conference Chinese in early March.
Meeting with the president of the National People’s Congress of China
Earlier, Lula met with the chairman of the National People’s Congress of China, the Asian country’s legislator, Zhao Leji, and advocated expanding the flow of trade between countries, greater balance in world geopolitics, and raising the level partnership between Brazil and China.
“We want to raise the level of strategic partnership between our countries, expand trade flows and, together with China, balance global geopolitics,” Lula said.
Lula had already pointed out that Brazil was the first country to recognize China as a market economy, 50 years ago.
The Asian country, Lula said, was an “essential partner” for the creation of the BRICS, a group made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“It is important to say that China has been a preferential partner of Brazil in its trade relations. It is with China that we maintain the most important flow of foreign trade,” Lula said, according to a Brazilian government statement. “It is with China that we have our largest trade balance and it is together with China that we have tried to balance world geopolitics,” the Brazilian president underlined.
At the meeting, Lula and the president of the National Assembly highlighted their intention to expand investments and strengthen cooperation in areas such as education and space.
Dollar
The meeting with Xi Jinping takes place on the second day of Lula’s official visit to China. On Thursday 13 the president attended the inauguration ceremony of Dilma Rousseff at the New Development Bank. On the occasion he criticized the exclusive use of the dollar as a currency to support international affairs. “Why can’t we do our trade backed by our own currency? Why don’t we have a commitment to innovate? Who decided the dollar was the currency?” asked the PT.
The statement had repercussions and specialists heard from the newspaper The State of São Paulo he said there are obstacles to overcoming the US monopoly. Both the Brazilian and Chinese currencies are far from gaining international support, as defended by the president. “It is difficult for partners to accept the Chinese currency. It is not an effective candidate to replace the dollar,” said José Júlio Senna, head of the monetary studies center at FGV Ibre and a former director of the central bank.
Ivan Lins
Lula’s reception by the president of China saw the Chinese army band play the national anthem of Brazil and even the song “Novo Tempo”, famous in the voice of singer Ivan Lins in the 1980s.
Lula and First Lady Janja Lula da Silva were received by Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Lyuan and reviewed the troops. The ceremony lasted about 15 minutes.
Meeting with the president of the State Grid power company
In his first appointment of the day, Lula met with the president of the State Grid power company, Zhang Zhigang, in Beijing. Lula reinforced the importance of Chinese investments in Brazil and the expectation is that the company will participate in the auctions scheduled for this year in the country.
Brazil is expected to hold broadcast auctions that could amount to BRL 50 billion in 2023. The first is expected to be in June, and the Chinese could be among the interested parties.
State Grid controls CPFL in Brazil, as well as 19 concessionaires and transmission lines in 14 states. In China, State Grid is present in 88% of the country’s territory and provides services to more than 1 billion people.
In the meeting with Zhang, Lula also highlighted the Brazilian government’s focus on investing in renewable energy and expanding the transmission grid, integrating wind and solar generation projects with the conventional grid.
“We don’t want to sell companies. We want to build, with partnerships, the things that need to be done in Brazil,” Lula told the Chinese executive, according to an official statement.
The meeting was also attended by ministers and governors who are part of the Brazilian entourage.
Source: Terra
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