Lula-China Wants To Discuss New Silk Road

Wires carrying comments from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, saying that 'China wants to discuss a new Silk Road with Brazil', presumably talking about China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that has sometimes been referred to as the New Silk Road. Lula says Brazil will 'prepare a proposal and see what is in it for us', adding he told Finance Minister Fernando Haddad 'that he doesn't need to worry, things will work out'.

• In the event of an agreement, Lula says 'Hopefully we'll need less and less public money to make infrastructure work.'
• Relations between Brasilia and Beijing ramped up under Lula's first presidency (2003-11) and have further accelerated in his current tenure (2022-). As the BBC reported earlier in the week, Brazil's deepening of its involvement in the BRICS group has more closely tied the country into China's economic sphere.
• A move towards BRI would represent a notable shift in stance from Brazil, which has developed deep trading links but to date has held back from getting involved in major investment projects from China as has been seen in many other emerging markets.