The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will travel to China at the end of March for an official visit, at the invitation of the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping, announced this Friday, the 17th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Beijing.
The visit, which will take place from March 26 to 31, will be Lula’s first to China since he took power in January.
A China it is Brazil’s biggest trading partner, with US$152 billion (803 billion reais) of bilateral trade last year, far ahead of the United States (US$88.8 billion, R$469 billion).
Brazil and China relationship
Lula expressed a desire to resume cordial ties with China, in contrast to his predecessor, the far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro.
China announced in January an invitation to the Brazilian president, but had not disclosed a specific date for the visit.
“China attaches great importance to the global strategic association with Brazil,” declared the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, at the time.
Lula, who governed Brazil between 2003 and 2010, seeks to break the country’s international isolation that marked his predecessor’s term.
In his inaugural address to Congress, he promised to resume “South American integration” and a “lofty and active” dialogue with the United States, the European Community and China.
