On the eve of making his first official trip to China in the current mandate, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that he will discuss with Chinese President Xi Jiping the investment in new Chinese assets in Brazil.
“I want the Chinese to understand that their investment here will be wonderfully welcome. But not to buy our companies. [E sim] to build new things, which we need. What we need is not to sell the assets we have, but to build new assets. That’s what I want to convince my friends in China of.”
The statement was given this Thursday (6th), during breakfast with journalists, at the Planalto Palace. According to Lula, a Chinese manufacturer of electric cars is going to take charge of the last factory of the automaker Ford, in Bahia.
Another point that the president wants to discuss with Xi Jiping is the possibility of the Asian country promoting a dialogue with the president of Russia, Vladmir Putin, for the end of the war in Ukraine. “We do not agree with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I am convinced that both Ukraine and Russia are waiting for someone from the outside to speak: let’s sit down and talk,” said Lula.
“And why do I want to sit down and talk with Xi Jiping? It is because I think that China’s economic, military and political importance and China’s relationship with Russia, and even China’s divergence from the United States gives China extraordinary potential for conversation,” he added.
Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Lula highlighted the opposite position and said that he wants to propose to Xi Jiping the creation of a group of countries for peace in the region. “China has weight, Brazil has weight. I think Indonesia can join, India can join. Let’s go talk to Putin, let’s talk to [presidente da Ucrânia] Zelensky, let’s talk to the [presidente dos Estados Unidos] Biden. Let’s try to see if we can find a group of people who don’t conform to war. It is not necessary to have war”.
Lula’s trip to China is scheduled for next Tuesday. The country is Brazil’s largest trading partner. Among the agreements that the Brazilian president is going to sign is the formalization of commercial transactions with China in the Chinese currency, the Renminbi, no longer using the dollar.
