Xi woos Lula as he forges closer ties with Latin America

Few world leaders can say they've been hugged by Xi Jinping, China's typically reserved president. Last year, an embrace between Xi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, seemed to sum up the cosy - if at times slightly awkward - relationship between China and Russia.

- By Amy Hawkins BEIJING

But stepping off the stage after giving a speech in Beijing earlier this month, Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shook Xi's hand, with the moment swiftly melting into something more affectionate.

Xi had good reason to be feeling warm towards the Brazilian president. In Lula's address to the China-CELAC forum, a dialogue between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, he condemned US tariffs and said the Latin American region wanted to be “the axis of a multi-polar order where the global south is duly represented”. Such words echo the case that China has been trying to make to the world about the dangers of the tariffs.

China's argument stands in contrast to the stance taken by the G7, a group of the world's wealthiest nations, which last Thursday issued a joint communique in which they agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a veiled swipe at China.

Lula's presence at the forum was itself a coup for China as it seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. Lula was one of three heads of state to attend the conference, along with the presidents of Chile and Colombia.