Brazil's Lula, China's Xi discuss BRICS, bilateral opportunities

12/8/2025 13:02

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping have discussed the role of the BRICS group of states and bilateral business over a phone call, according to Lula's office and Chinese state media said.



The leaders spoke for an hour on Monday, agreeing on the role of the G20 and BRICS in defending multilateralism," Brazil's presidency said in a statement.

"Both presidents also highlighted their willingness to continue identifying new business opportunities between the two economies," the statement said.



Lula said last week he would initiate a conversation about how to tackle Trump's tariffs with BRICS nations, after Trump dubbed the group "anti-American" and threatened them with additional tariffs.



Xi called BRICS a key platform for building consensus in the Global South and said China is ready to work with Brazil to set an example of unity and self-reliance among major Global South nations, Chinese state media Xinhua reported.