China and Brazil on Friday called on developed countries to honor their climate finance commitments, after a meeting in Beijing between its leaders seemed to seal a close economic and diplomatic agreement.
In Shanghai, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula had proclaimed the day before that Brazil was “back on the international scene”, thus wanting to turn the page of isolation under the presidency of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
President Lula, who on Thursday criticized the ubiquity of the US dollar, also said deepening his country’s relationship with China is non-negotiable.
“Yesterday we visited Huawei, to tell the world that we have no bias in our relations with the Chinese and no one will prevent Brazil from improving its relations with China,” the president said. Lula before his meeting with President Xi Jinping, according to a video published by Brazilian media.
Huawei is strongly established in Brazil, unlike the United States where companies are not allowed to deal with the Chinese giant.
For his part, President Xi told his Brazilian counterpart that China regards relations between their countries as a high diplomatic priority, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
In addition, the two leaders called on developed countries to keep their promise to provide $100 billion per year to the poorest countries to combat the effects of climate change.
“We continue to be very concerned that climate finance from developed countries still falls short of the $100 billion per year commitment, as it has every year since the target was set in 2009,” according to the statement.
“We urge developed countries to honor their outstanding climate finance obligations,” it added.
China also promised Friday “new opportunities” for Brazil and the world.
“China will pursue high-quality development, accelerate the creation of a new development paradigm, and engage in promoting high-level opening-up,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The 77-year-old left-wing Brazilian leader, who attended the enthronement of ex-Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as head of the Brics bank, headquartered in Shanghai, took the opportunity on Thursday to castigate the Monetary Fund International (IMF), which he accused of “asphyxiating the economies of countries like Argentina”.
The Brics are a group of emerging countries that brings together Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, founded in 2006, during Lula’s first term as president (2003-2010).
“No leader can work with a knife to his throat because he is in debt,” said the former trade unionist.
The head of state of Latin America’s biggest economy also lamented that the US dollar is still used for most international trade.
“Today, a country must obtain dollars to export when it could do so in its own currency,” he added.
-calls for negotiation on Ukraine-
At the end of March, during an economic forum bringing together several dozen Brazilian bosses in China, the two countries signed an agreement providing that their exchanges could be carried out in their own currency, without using the dollar.
Two banks – one from each country – have been appointed to carry out the foreign exchange transactions that will allow the exporter to receive in their own currency a payment made by the importer in their home currency.
On Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Lula and Xi said ‘dialogue and negotiation’ was the ‘only possible way’ to resolve the crisis, calling on other nations to play a ‘constructive role’ for a political settlement , according to the official Xinhua agency.
China and Brazil have never imposed financial sanctions on Russia.
Lula hopes to play again the role of mediator who contributed to the nuclear agreements between Iran and the United States during his second term (2007-2010).
China is under increasing international pressure to weigh on Moscow and bring it to the negotiating table.
Trade between Brazil and China reached $150 billion in 2022, with $89.7 billion exported by Brazilians to China.
04/14/2023 20:22:52 – Beijing (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
