Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – popularly known as Lula – on 14 April in Beijing, Reuters reports.
The trip is a rescheduling of a visit that was postponed last week after the Brazilian leader came down with mild pneumonia.
Brazilian officials said Friday that Lula will leave for Beijing on April 11 and that he and Xi will keep to their original agenda, which includes the signing of some 20 agreements with China – Brazil’s largest trading partner.
Also up for discussion is an innovative proposal to transform Brazil’s rural landscape, and boost agricultural productivity, without the need for further deforestation.
[See more: Brazil’s exports of soybeans to China are set to boom]
Under the US$100 billion idea, the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation would help finance the transformation of as much as 40 million hectares of degraded cattle pasture into land suitable for cultivation. The resulting crops, such as soy and corn, would be exported to China.
According to Carlos Fávaro, the agriculture minister, this scheme would practically double the area of cropland in Brazil.
News of Lula’s rescheduled visit comes as both countries announce that they will use their own currencies, instead of the US dollar, in their trade with each other.
The growing diplomatic and trade rapprochement between Beijing and Brasilia is being watched with concern in Washington, which sees itself in a superpower rivalry with the world’s most populous nation.
