- Big Global South players -
China and Brazil are the major emerging powers of the eastern and western hemispheres.
They are also the world's fourth- and fifth-biggest countries by area.
In terms of population, they rank second and seventh, respectively, with 1.4 billion people in China and 214 million in Brazil.
With diplomatic ties going back half a century, the bilateral event builds on a geopolitical partnership that had grown since Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to power in 2023.
"It's normal that the Chinese Communist Party feels comfortable speaking with left-wing governments," a former Brazilian ambassador to China, Marcos Caramuru, told AFP. Though he pointed out that China's relationship with Brazil "was entirely pragmatic."
Both are part of the nine-member BRICS group of emerging economies, which also includes India, Russia and South Africa.
Jorge Heine, a former Chilean ambassador to China who is now a researcher at Boston University, said that "as tensions with the US and the EU escalate, China focuses more and more on the Global South, where Brazil holds center stage."
The two governments have also come up with a joint roadmap for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin considers it "balanced" but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected it and the United States and Europe have not taken it on board.
- Asymmetrical trade -
Brazil and China maintain a strategic trade partnership, though an asymmetrical one, in China's favor.
China is Brazil's biggest trade partner, while Brazil ranks ninth for China.
Although Brazil is one of the few countries to have a trade surplus with China, its exports are largely commodities, while China's exports to Brazil are diversified with higher added value.
- Electric cars -
China's contribution to Brazilian industry is visible in sectors working make a green transition, such as the auto industry.
Great Wall Motors and BYD, two giant Chinese car manufacturers, have announced $2.5 billion in investment in Brazil to build electric cars.
"The green economy more generally offers considerable potential for Chinese investment, given South America's copper and lithium reserves, two critical minerals for e-batteries," said Heine.
- United, faced with Trump? -
Margaret Myers, the Asia and Latin America director for the Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said Donald Trump's re-election as US president "will translate to a loss of soft power in Latin America and other regions," opening space that China could fill.
For now, though, Lula is approaching relations with Beijing pragmatically.
"Don't believe that when I speak with China I want to fight with the United States. Quite the opposite: I want both on our side," the leader said several months ago.
Before Xi's arrival in Brazil, there was speculation Brasilia could sign on to China's Belt and Road Initiative.
But Lula's top international affairs adviser, Celso Amorim, lowered expectations for such a move, declaring that negotiations with China were "not about signing on the dotted line, like an insurance policy."
Instead, it was looking for "synergies," he said.
A Brazilian diplomatic source confirmed to AFP that Brazil is ready to listen to China's proposals, but labeling the outcome as one thing or another was "not the fundamental thing."
Xi, Lula meet in Brasilia to 'enhance ties'
Brasilia (AFP) Nov 20, 2024 -
China's President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Brazil Wednesday, fresh off a warm reception at summits of the G20 and APEC groups, both held under the cloud of Donald Trump's White House return.
Xi has said he would seek to "further enhance" ties with Brasilia when he meets counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, host of the G20 summit that closed in Rio Tuesday.
The bilateral comes as China is looking with trepidation to a future after US President Joe Biden, with whom Xi had led efforts to ease tensions over issues from trade to Taiwan.
Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, has signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing, threatening tariffs of up to 60 percent on imports of Chinese goods.
China and Brazil have sought to position themselves as leaders of the Global South at a time of great global uncertainty, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
"The Global South is on a collective rise," Xi wrote in an article published in Brazilian media ahead of his visit.
Both China and Brazil have sought to mediate in the Ukraine war while declining to sanction fellow BRICS member Russia for its invasion.
- Value-added exports -
China is Brazil's biggest trading partner overall, with two-way commerce exceeding $160 billion last year.
Xi looked forward to talks with Lula "on further enhancing China-Brazil relations, promoting synergy of the two countries' development strategies, international and regional issues of common interest," state news agency Xinhua forecast.
Brazil, in turn, will push for increasing exports of value-added products, said secretary for Asia Eduardo Paes.
The South American agricultural power sends mainly soybeans and other primary commodities to China, while the Asian giants sells it semiconductors, telephones, vehicles and medicines.
Since returning to power last year, Lula has sought to balance efforts to improve ties with both China and the United States.
A visit to Beijing this year by Vice President Geraldo Alckmin was seen as paving the way for Brazil to join China's Belt and Road Initiative to stimulate trade -- a central pillar of Xi's bid to expand China's clout overseas.
South American nations that have signed up include Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Xi inaugurated South America's first Chinese-funded port while in Lima last week for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where he also met with Biden.
The port opening prompted senior US officials to warn Latin America to be vigilant of Chinese investment.
"We encourage Brazil and our allies in general to evaluate with open eyes the risks and benefits of a rapprochement with China," US State Department spokeswoman Natalia Molano told AFP.
Wednesday's meeting between the leaders of the second- and seventh-most populated countries of the world, comes as Brazil and China mark 50 years of diplomatic ties.
Evan Ellis, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP Lula will likely discuss with Xi how to adjust their economic relationship "to give more advantage to Brazilian companies."
He would also be interested "in seeing how Brazil can continue to posture itself as an international player in the context of a possibly diminished US role in Latin America and globally" under Trump.
To address trade imbalance concerns, China "will need to make good on its commitment to supporting re-industrialization," added Margaret Myers of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank.
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