Lula arrived in Shanghai for a visit to Huawei, South-South cooperation to meet complex challenges, and BRICS cooperation to give the world new choices.
[Shao Shijun, correspondent of the Global Times in Brazil] Ding Yazhi, reporter of the Global Times, has a heavy responsibility. Brazilian President Lula arrived in Shanghai on the evening of 12th and began his state visit to China. Before Lula arrived, it was reported that China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Brazil) Co., Ltd. successfully handled the first cross-border RMB settlement business. It is reported that the huge delegation led by Lula will sign a cooperation agreement with China, including not only soybeans, beef, iron ore, but also a satellite for protecting the Amazon rainforest environment. As a BRICS country that advocates multilateral independent diplomacy, Lula’s trip also carries the confidence of a big developing country that makes Brazil "sit on the decision-making table of the world geopolitical map again" and become a "potential mediator of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict". However, the American media expressed dissatisfaction with Lula’s visit to Huawei Innovation Center in Shanghai, and regarded it as a double blow to the US high-tech blockade against China and the US "backyard mentality". Recently, "Deutsche Welle" published two articles in succession, expressing great concern about the development of BRICS countries: "A new world currency? How will the BRICS countries affect the dollar and A New World Order? The BRICS countries provide an alternative to the West. Lula’s trip to China may further refresh the world’s understanding of BRICS cooperation.
Huawei’s visit "angered the United States"?
According to Brazil’s World Wide Web, Lula’s first activity in China was to attend the inauguration ceremony of former Brazilian President Rousseff as the president of the BRICS New Development Bank on the morning of the 13th. On the afternoon of 13th, Lula planned to meet with representatives of business groups from infrastructure, technology and automobile industries, among which meetings with BYD and Huawei were on the agenda. On the 14th, Lula will hold talks with the Chairman of the Supreme Leader in Beijing. At that time, he will witness the signing of more than 20 bilateral agreements, including cooperation in building the sixth China-Pakistan Earth resources satellite and trade settlement in local currency.
Among them, Lula’s visit to Huawei’s innovation center in Shanghai on the 13th received special attention from the US media. Bloomberg News reported on the 12th that Lula’s move "may annoy the United States" because Washington has always accused Huawei of "participating in espionage activities against the United States". At the press conference before Lula’s visit to China, Brazilian Foreign Minister Vieira said that Brazil hopes to maintain good and close relations with everyone around the world, and visiting Huawei should not be regarded as provocation. "Since the president visits other countries, he will visit companies in this country." He said that Lula was invited by Huawei, which has been operating in Brazil for more than 20 years. In 2021, the company won a tender for the supply of equipment to implement 5G technology in Brazil. Also in 2021, the Federal Communications Commission of the United States blacklisted the company as one of the five China technology companies that were considered as "unacceptable risks" to national security. Vieira told reporters that Lula’s visit to Huawei sent a message that Brazil will not "stand in the line" in the struggle between the United States and the technology giant.
Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times reporter on the 12th, is it necessary for any foreign company to have ties with China’s high-tech enterprises, or for leaders to visit such enterprises, to be a reason to "anger the United States"? This just reflects the morbid psychology of the United States towards China. This reaction of the US media is not only a disrespect for the Brazilian President himself and his itinerary, but also a reflection of America’s excessive sense of self-superiority.
Brazil opens RMB settlement
"China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Brazil) Co., Ltd. has successfully handled the first cross-border RMB settlement business recently, and both trading parties no longer use the US dollar as the intermediate currency". With Lula’s visit to China, the news that Brazil’s cross-border RMB settlement business has successfully landed came on the 12th. Qatar Al Jazeera said that earlier this year, China and Pakistan signed a memorandum of cooperation to establish a RMB clearing house, aiming at promoting bilateral trade and investment and weakening the dominant position of the US dollar. This indicates that enterprises of the two countries have more currency choices in trade, and also reflects the increasingly close relationship between China and Pakistan. According to a briefing released by Standard & Poor’s Global Market Intelligence this month, the total bilateral trade between China and Brazil in 2022 was US$ 150 billion, an increase of 10.1% over the previous year. According to the data compiled by MIT, Brazil mainly exports iron ore, soybeans and crude oil to China, and semiconductor devices now account for the largest share of China’s exports to Brazil.
India’s First Post said that Brazil and China now use RMB to trade with each other, which helps to establish the status of RMB as a challenger to the international currency and the US dollar. India has also been trying to get rid of the dollar, and even the initiative to create a "new BRICS currency" will be discussed at the annual summit of BRICS leaders in South Africa in August. According to Sputnik news agency & radio’s report on the 11th, the total share of RMB trading in Russian foreign exchange market rose to a record 39% in March, while the share of US dollar fell to 34%.
Lan Qingxin, director of the BRICS Research Center in university of international business and economics, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 12th that a number of bilateral local currency settlement channels have been established within the BRICS countries. In the future, more and more countries will seek to implement local currency settlement in their foreign trade and get rid of their dependence on the US dollar in bilateral trade. This has an impact on the hegemony of the US dollar and fully reflects the importance of economic cooperation among BRICS countries.
"With the expectation of trade and peace"
"Lula visited China with the expectation of trade and peace." CNN said on the 12th that the Brazilian delegation accompanying Lula to China included businessmen, governors, parliamentarians and ministers, and the trade between the two countries "has increased 21 times since Lula’s first visit to China in 2004". Reuters said that the huge delegation led by Lula included eight cabinet ministers, including Environment Minister Silva, and five governors from the northeastern state of Brazil. Silva told Reuters that Brazil hopes that China will set up a fund to help Brazil’s forest restoration and sustainable development, including green hydrogen production. According to two people familiar with the matter, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer may sign an agreement to sell 20 commercial aircraft to an airline in China.
The Associated Press said that China is Brazil’s largest export market, buying tens of billions of dollars worth of soybeans, beef, iron ore, poultry, pulp, sugar cane, cotton and crude oil from Brazil every year. Brazil is also China’s largest investor in Latin America. "Brazil can’t refuse the benefits brought by China. The United States has no ability to absorb Brazilian exports like China, and it is not as good as China in terms of investment and infrastructure. " The Brazilian website "Brasildefato" said on the 11th that the visit coincided with the increasingly tense Sino-US relations. The cooperation and achievements of Lula’s first visit to non-western countries during his third presidency will be in sharp contrast with the results of his visit to the White House a month ago. The United States promised to invest in the Amazon Fund and discussed "possible" semiconductor cooperation with Brazil. However, so far, the financial commitment has not been fulfilled and the negotiations have not developed into an agreement.
The international influence of "BRIC" is increasing.
Recently, an official of Tunisia told Russian satellite news agency that his country was considering the possibility of joining the BRICS countries in the context of the deadlock in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At present, Algeria, Iran and Argentina have applied to join the BRICS countries. Many countries, including Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand and Turkey, are maintaining close dialogue with BRICS countries. This proves the international appeal of the BRICS mechanism.
"The new world order?" "Deutsche Welle" said on the 10th that the BRICS countries offered choices outside the West. This mechanism has now become a platform for diplomacy and financing for development and construction, and exists outside the "mainstream countries" in the West. The BRICS has now developed into an intergovernmental cooperation platform similar to the Group of Seven. The BRICS countries have launched a new development bank as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In addition, they created a liquidity mechanism called "Emergency Reserve Arrangement" to support member countries that have difficulties in payment. These initiatives are attractive not only to the BRICS countries themselves, but also to many other developing countries and emerging market economies. Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the BRICS countries have further alienated the so-called "West". Maiehold, head of the Berlin Science and Politics Foundation, said that today, the BRICS countries have become a forum with rising sovereignty and independent ideas rather than "confronting" the West.
The Times of India recently reported that the proportion of G7 GDP based on purchasing power parity in world GDP dropped from 50.42% in 1982 to 30.39% in 2022, while the proportion of BRICS countries rose from 10.66% in 1982 to 31.59% in 2022. It took the BRICS countries nearly 40 years to catch up with the G-7.
Lan Qingxin said that the BRICS cooperation mechanism has made great progress in recent years, especially in economic and trade investment, digital economy, science and technology, green and low carbon. The BRICS cooperation mechanism bears the expectations of many developing countries and has produced a demonstration effect of "South-South cooperation". The "BRICS circle of friends" will expand the representation and voice of emerging market countries in global economic governance.