President Lula’s Toasting Speech At Dinner With President Xi Jinping

It is a pleasure to welcome my friend Xi Jinping and his delegation to Brasília.

Today we reciprocate the hospitality with which Janja and I were received in Beijing.

Were it not for the fact that we are presidents of the two largest developing countries in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, many would say that a Chinese engineer and a Brazilian lathe operator have little in common.

 Due to different circumstances in life, we both know firsthand the pain of hunger and the evils of poverty.

We have transformed personal adversities into the deepest determination to eliminate these scourges of humanity.

President Xi is known for his dynamism and great sense of social justice. These are characteristics that he has been able to transfer to his administrations.

It is with great admiration that we look at the results of Chinese social programs which have lifted 100 million people out of poverty over ten years.

You have led China at a time of rapid and broad transformations in the world.

You have also served as an inspiration for the profound changes that humanity must undertake to talk more about peace than war, to cooperate more than compete, and to promote greater peace and prosperity. To create more than to destroy.

Sixty-five years ago, a great Brazilian sociologist called Brazil the “Tropical China” and predicted that our countries’ presence in the world would become increasingly significant.

As we celebrate half a century of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China today, we have become an example of South-South cooperation.

We have shown, each in our own way, possible paths towards fair and equitable development.

Our countries are aligned in the defense of International Law, multilateralism, and the peaceful solution of disputes.

What China and Brazil do together reverberate across the world.

The synergy we have established today will contribute even more effectively to the achievement of our national goals of social inclusion and sustainable development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to propose a toast in honor of dear Xi Jinping and the 50 years of friendship between China and Brazil, so that we can continue working together to build a Community of Shared Future for a Fairer World and a More Sustainable Planet.

I raise a special toast to the health of First Lady Peng Liyuan, who celebrates her birthday today.

Long live China! Long live Brazil!