Xi Jinping touts shared views with Brazil on Ukraine, other matters ahead of G20

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for reform of global institutions and emphasised his government’s shared views with Brazil on international matters, including the Ukraine war, ahead of his state visit to the South American nation.

In a wide-ranging opinion piece published in Brazil’s leading newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Xi stressed the importance of increasing representation for Global South countries in multilateral organisations including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization.

“Macroeconomic policy coordination must be stepped up, and trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation promoted, to create an open, inclusive, and non-discriminatory environment for international economic cooperation,” the Chinese leader wrote.

Xi said China and Brazil remain “committed to peace, development, fairness and justice” and are “staunch defenders of the basic norms of international relations and multilateralism”.

Chinese and Brazilian diplomats met on the UN General Assembly sidelines in September to discuss the Ukraine war crisis. The meeting, led by Brazil’s special adviser Celso Amorim and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, had representatives from 11 nations but notably excluded the United States and European Union.