Brazil President Lula reschedules meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping on April 14 in Beijing. As per Lula's office, he will leave for China on April 11. Reuters reports that the leader intends to stick to his original agenda, including the signing of around 20 agreements with China, which is Brazil's largest trading partner. The visit was postponed last week after the Brazilian president was diagnosed with mild pneumonia.

The visit comes months after Lula took over the office from his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, and two months after he met US President Joe Biden. Despite growing tensions between the two, Brasilia is reportedly aiming for a pragmatic foreign policy balancing ties with its two top trading partners US and China.

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With this trip, Lula, as per Reuters, is attempting to upgrade Brazil's relations with China and is seeking new Chinese investment.

Brazil and China had$150.5 billion in bilateral trade last year, much higher than the $88.7 billion between Brazil and the United States, its second-most important trading partner.

With this visit, Lula hopes to rescue Brazil's ties with Beijing, which, under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) had become strained. According to AFP, like his political hero, former US president Donald Trump, Bolsonaro was frequently seendemonising China, especially about the coronavirus pandemic.

(With inputs from agencies)

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