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At the invitation of Peruvian and Brazilian presidents, President Xi Jinping will travel to the two countries to attend the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima and the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro and pay state visits to the two countries respectively, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.

Elaborating on Xi's visits, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing Friday that President Xi's attendance at the APEC meeting and G20 summit fully shows the great importance China attaches to Asia-Pacific economic cooperation and its staunch support for multilateralism.

Mao said Xi's state visits to Peru and Brazil will further consolidate political mutual trust and deepen practical cooperation with the two countries.

Chinese experts said the visits highlight a strategic leading role of the head-of-state diplomacy in terms of deepening ties between China and Latin America and pursuit of Global South solidarity, given that the visits coincide with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Brazil ties, and also the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum.

Moreover, as the world faces complex challenges including geopolitical conflicts, economic downturn, and uncertainties brought by geopolitics, China's position and roles on improving global governance, promoting Asia-Pacific economic and trade cooperation, and sustainable and high-quality development will undoubtedly be in the center of the spotlight in the upcoming multilateral stages, experts said.

Reaching a new height

Global attention will be on Latin America in the coming weeks as Peru will host the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and Brazil will host the 19th G20 Summit. China is not only the largest trading partner of both countries, but also maintains a stable and mutually beneficial comprehensive strategic partnership with them, as well as close high-level interactions.

Prior to Xi's upcoming state visit to Peru, the Chinese president has met with Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra in Beijing on June 28, during which Xi said that China stands ready to work with Peru to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights. 

After the talks, the two heads of state jointly witnessed the signing of the Joint Action Plan (2024-2029) of the two countries, and multiple bilateral cooperation documents regarding economic and trade relations, digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, inspection and quarantine, and news media, among others. The two sides announced the completion of negotiations on upgrading their free-trade agreement.

The flagship project between Beijing and Lima, the Chancay Port, is also expected to be inaugurated soon. Once completed, it will significantly reduce the costs and time of the transportation from South America to China.

Zhou Zhiwei, an expert on Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Chancay port will further narrow the distance between China and Peru, and will act as an acceleration engine for future economic and trade cooperation between China and Peru as well as the whole region.  

Data show that China is Peru's largest trading partner, number one export market and number one source of imports.

Meanwhile, China and Brazil have maintained a comprehensive strategic partnership. Data show that China has been Brazil's top trading partner for 15 consecutive years, while Brazil is China's largest trading partner and direct investment destination in Latin America, with bilateral trade exceeded $100 billion for six consecutive years.

On August 15, 2024, Xi exchanged congratulatory messages with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

The comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Brazil is likely to be further upgraded, and the cooperation between the two sides in terms of economic and trade, green transformation, digital economy, people-to-people exchanges, and political trust, will all reach a new height, said Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, noting China and Brazil will strengthen the substantive alignment of their development strategies .

Ten years ago on July 17, 2014, President Xi attended the China-Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Countries Leaders' Meeting in Brasilia and made the proposition of building a China-LAC community with a shared future. Some experts also mentioned that the upcoming visit by President Xi is not just about bilateral relations; it also signifies a broader commitment to strengthening China-LAC cooperation.

Zhou said Peru and Brazil are China's two most important investment destinations in South America. China will further strengthen its relations with these two countries through the new round of head-of-state diplomacy, and boost the economic cooperation between China and the whole Latin America.

Despite the turbulent and volatile international and regional situation, the fact that China and Latin America offer opportunities for each other has not changed, Wang added. 

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, China has signed Belt and Road cooperation MOUs with 22 LAC countries. Annual trade volume between China and LAC countries amounts to nearly US$500 billion. China and Peru signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2019.

Currently, Brazil is one of the few countries in Latin America that has not yet participated in the BRI. Since Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office again last year, there have been continuous reports about Brazil actively advancing related efforts. In October this year, Brazil's Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said the country should join BRI, noting it would provide Brazil with an "opportunity to overcome trade barriers."

Collective rise

According to Zhou, the high level of convergence of interests between China and countries like Peru and Brazil is reflected not only in the economic and trade spheres, but also in mutual political trust, as well as in the understanding of many international issues and collaboration in the globe arena.

APEC Peru 2024, scheduled to be held between November 10 and 16, is centered around the theme "Empower. Include. Grow," which reflects Peru's commitment to fostering inclusive growth and sustainable development across the Asia-Pacific region. Brazil will host the G20 Leaders' Summit on November 18 and 19, with the slogan "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet." 

Liu Chenyang, director of the APEC Study Center of Nankai University in Tianjin, believes the APEC meeting and G20 summit to be held in South America have strong intrinsic links in terms of themes.

This reflects the core demand of the Global South in participating in regional and multilateral cooperation as they generally hope to stick with a development perspective, or hope that the current system could become more favorable to less developed economies, so that they are not left behind by the pace of regional cooperation, said Liu. 

China, Peru, and Brazil and other Global South countries share common interests in upholding a multipolar world, promoting sustainable development, reducing poverty, improving the unjust aspects of the existing system and addressing global challenges, Wang said. 

"They are expected to utilize the two consecutive multilateral events to speak out for developing countries," he said, noting that President Xi's trip would further inject impetus for the Global South solidarity.

Against the backdrop of a highly complex geopolitical environment, the participation of the Chinese leader in the two events demonstrates China's open and inclusive stance and its high support for multilateralism, Zhou said. 

In addition, the APEC meeting and G20 summit are significant platforms for global economic governance, and the participation of the Chinese leader shows China's policy stance favors a more open international economic environment to achieve more efficient integration and shared development, the expert noted. 

The collective rise of the Global South is a clear sign of the great changes in the world, President Xi said while attending the BRICS Plus leaders' dialogue on October 24 in Russia.

Experts also agreed that platforms like BRICS, SCO and APEC reflect the "collective rise of the Global South" and a world evolving faster toward multipolarity.   

Latin America has long faced suppression and unfair treatment by the big powers of the Global North, and their sense of strategic autonomy has been growing, said Zhou, noting that China-LAC cooperation has a role to play in enhancing the voice of the countries of the Global South in global governance.

China supports the integration construction of the entire LAC, and this position is consistent and clear, as it is not only important for the overall cooperation between China and LAC, but also crucial for the LAC countries to maintain the strategic autonomy of the region and common development in the global pattern, Zhou said.