Chinese President Xi Jinping Renews Partnership with Brazil and Latin America
Chinese President Xi Jinping said he wants to strengthen China's ties with Brazil and other Latin American countries while visiting Brazil this week.
Xi said that he wants to promote China's global ties and promote a "fairer" international order, according to China's Xinhua news source.
Xi made the comments while giving a speech at the National Congress of Brazil. The Chinese president mentioned China's historic ties to Brazil; he spoke of Chinese tea farmers who traveled to Brazil 200 years ago to teach the locals about tea planting and other tea cultivation techniques.
China and Brazil brokered official diplomatic ties in 1974. Xi said the diplomatic relations between the two countries has since become "more solid and mature."
Brazil is China's primary diplomatic partner among emerging countries, and is also the first country in Latin America to strike a diplomatic and economic deal with China.
He added that the two countries see each other as important partners and a symbol of "South-South cooperation".
He also said that both Brazil and China are developing countries with emerging economies that have a major influence globally. The relationship between the two countries is becoming more prominent on the global stage.
The two countries are marking 40 years in their cooperative relationship, and the renewed commitment to their strategic partnership is meant to expand their influence together.
Xi announced a three-point proposal during the speech to describe the details of the partnership.
He said China and Brazil will continue their efforts to strengthen their trust, support each other on major issues like security, territorial integrity and sovereignty and support each other in their respective developments. He added that they will engage in "strategic dialogue" and provide advice regarding governance.
Both sides will also enhance their coordination in development by coordinating macroeconomic policies and expanding "strategic converging points." The two countries have a ten-year cooperation plan already in place, which Xi said should be accelerated by expanding their trade and mutual investments and pushing more strategic cooperation plans forward.
Additionally, he said the two countries will both promote the tenets of the UN Charter to establish a balanced global development partnership and take on international responsibilities. China and Brazil will also reach out to other emerging countries to enhance trade and diplomatic ties.
Xi said that while each state should protect cyber security, the international community should have a multilateral and transparent system for global Internet governance.
While many human and democratic rights groups have decried China's political and labor practices, including a repression of free speech, Xi claimed that China is committed to peaceful development and "openness" between the two nations.
China will also bolster ties between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and to foster mutual benefits between the countries.
Xi arrived in Brazil Tuesday after attending the sixth BRICS summit, a summit of emerging countries, in Fortaleza, Brazil. He will then travel to Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela.
Xi's visit comes at the same time as Russian President Vladimir Putin's Latin America tour. Putin also came to Latin America with the main goal of bolstering ties with Latin American allies.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered a nuclear energy agreement with Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in an attempt to strengthen Russia's trade and diplomatic ties with Latin American countries.
According to The New York Times, Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom has made an offer to President Kirchner to help build the third reactor of a nuclear power plant in Argentina.
The leaders of both countries said the nuclear plant projects will be used for peaceful purposes.
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak told reporters that Rosatom could offer "comfortable" financial terms to Argentina, which has the third-largest economy in Latin America. However, Argentina has struggled to progress its nuclear program and attract foreign investors.
Putin said he hopes to build bases in Argentina for its satellite system and collaborate on the use of military technology. He added that he hopes Russian planes and helicopters can be used in the region of Antarctica that is owned by Argentina.