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Brazilian vice-president visiting China for week of meetings on trade, infrastructure, climate change

  • High-level dialogue comes a year after Brazilian leader’s state visit, with focus on projects that could draw Brasilia closer to Beijing economically
  • Sensitive bilateral issues like impact of subsidies and artificial price reductions observed in Chinese steel exports also expected to come up

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (right) speaks as Vice-President and Minister of Industry and Trade Geraldo Alckmin looks on at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on May 13, 2024. Photo: AFP
Igor Patrickin Washington
Brazilian Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin will arrive in Beijing on Saturday for week-long meetings with his Chinese counterpart Han Zheng, focusing on joint projects between the two countries addressing trade, infrastructure and climate-change strategies.
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Alckmin’s visit until June 7 for the Sino-Brazilian High-Level Commission for Consultation and Cooperation, also known as Cosban, is meant to revive the primary forum for ministerial dialogue between China and Brazil.
The meeting, coming little more than a year after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s last state visit to China and amid elevated tensions Beijing seeks to manage with Washington and Brussels, will focus on projects that could draw Brazil and its neighbours closer to China economically.

The gathering will mark the first in-person Cosban meeting in five years and the first since Lula’s return as Brazil’s president in 2023.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 14, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 14, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Established in 2004, Cosban is co-chaired by the two countries’ vice-presidents and convenes every two years.

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