Xi stresses ties with Brazil are priority

President Xi Jinping hosts a welcoming ceremony for visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. [Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

President Xi Jinping on Friday stressed the increasingly prominent influence of China-Brazil relations, saying that Beijing sees this relationship as a diplomatic priority and will work with Brasilia to bring more benefits to both peoples and contribute to regional and global peace, stability and development.

He made the remarks when meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the second leg of Lula's four-day state visit to China. The Brazilian president also visited Shanghai, where he met with representatives from Chinese enterprises.

China and Brazil are the two biggest developing countries and emerging markets in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and the two countries share extensive common interests as comprehensive strategic partners, Xi said.

According to Xi, China always views and develops relations with Brazil from a strategic and long-term perspective. As China pursues high-quality development and high-level opening-up on the new journey of Chinese modernization, it is believed that this will offer more opportunities for Brazil and the rest of the world, he said.

Xi called on the two sides to maintain frequent strategic communication, deepen practical cooperation and carry out more people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

He said it is necessary for China and Brazil to consider each other as their respective important development opportunity, to support each other in taking their respective development path that meets domestic conditions and to jointly support developing countries in strengthening solidarity and coordination.

Xi noted that China firmly supports Latin American and Caribbean countries solidifying the good momentum of peace, stability, independence and solidarity, and supports the region in pushing for integration and playing a bigger role in international affairs.

Faced with changes unseen in a century, China and Brazil must stand on the correct side of history, practice true multilateralism and promote a more equitable and fair system of global governance in order to jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.

China is ready to strengthen strategic coordination with Brazil on global issues of common concern within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, BRICS and the G20 and jointly tackle climate change, Xi said.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. Xi urged the two nations to tap the potential of cooperation in areas such as agriculture, energy, infrastructure and aerospace, and explore cooperation in the green economy, the digital economy and clean energy while making steady efforts to push forward existing major cooperation projects.

China welcomes more quality Brazilian products to enter the Chinese market and is willing to actively discuss the alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and Brazil's reindustrialization strategy, he added.

At a glance: China-Brazil Relations [Chinadaily.com.cn]

Lula, who received a grand welcoming ceremony before the talks, said that his fourth trip to China, and also his first outside the Americas since he took office for a third term in January, showed Brazil's enthusiasm for China and the importance it attaches to relations with China.

Strengthening relations with China in all aspects is a strong aspiration shared by Brazil's legislative body and all sectors of society, he said, as he welcomed Chinese companies to invest in his country.

Brazil and China enjoy consensus and common interests on many major international issues, Lula added, vowing to work with China to help developing countries to get rid of unfair rules and realize more balanced development.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and agreed that the only workable solution is to have dialogue and negotiations. All efforts that will help to peacefully solve the crisis should be encouraged and supported, they said, calling on more countries to play a constructive role toward reaching a political settlement. They decided to maintain communication in this regard.

After the meeting, Xi and Lula witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperative documents in areas including trade and investment, information and communication and poverty alleviation. They also issued a joint statement on deepening the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership.

Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, also met with Lula on Friday.

Lula's visit to China highlighted the two nations' people-centered policies and common approaches to multilateralism in global affairs, said Alessandro Golombiewski Teixeira, a former minister of tourism of Brazil.

"That's very important," he said, "So I think (this) makes a lot of difference (to the world)."

As strong voices for developing countries, China and Brazil are also helping other countries on a multilateral level by enhancing their bilateral ties, he added.