The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Not only did the Argentine delegation visit China, but Lula also led a Brazilian delegation to visit China.

Since taking office in 2003, Lula has led a delegation to visit China every year.

This is Lula's third visit to China.

The delegation led by Lula first arrived in Hong Kong, then went to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai and then to Beijing.

During the campaign, Lula made "ensuring three meals a day for all Brazilians" his biggest mission during his tenure. After nationalizing Brazil's oil and natural gas, the Lula government implemented a series of social policies such as the "Zero Hunger Plan" and the "Family Assistance Fund Plan."

And now, Lula is seeking to nationalize mineral resources such as niobium and iron ore.

As the largest country in South America in terms of land area, Brazil's territory covers an area of ​​851.03 square kilometers, accounting for about 46% of the total area of ​​South America. Its coastline is about 7400 kilometers long, its territorial waters are 12 nautical miles wide, and its exclusive economic zone outside the territorial waters is 188 nautical miles.

Brazil has very rich mineral resources. It currently has proven oil reserves of 269 billion barrels and proven natural gas reserves of 5000 billion cubic meters.

Brazil has proven iron ore reserves of 290 billion tons, niobium ore reserves of 520 million tons, and timber reserves of 658 billion cubic meters.

Brazil has abundant hydropower resources, with 18% of the world's fresh water, 2.9 cubic meters of fresh water per capita, and hydropower reserves of 1.43 million kilowatts per year.

After the United States launched the Iraq War, Brazil, Venezuela and other countries sold large quantities of oil to the United States and sold oil and natural gas to Europe.

And because all goods have to be transported by sea, Panshan Group acts as a transportation channel and middleman for some countries.

Since the 80s, China and Brazil have been cooperating more and more, and the total trade volume has continued to hit historical highs.

Brazil was hit by crises several times and was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was only by relying on exports to China and earning large amounts of export revenue that it was able to overcome the difficulties.

When Lula visited China in 2003, the two sides reached in-depth cooperation, with China helping Brazil build roads, railways, highways, ports, airports, subways, reservoirs and hydropower stations.

Since 2003, Brazil has launched a wave of infrastructure construction, and there has been a certain degree of Brazil fever around the world. Many Chinese entrepreneurs have gone to Brazil to invest and seek business opportunities.

A large number of Chinese construction companies have gone to Brazil to build roads, bridges, tunnels, docks, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations.

Ordinary fans are recruited from local Brazilians, while technical personnel are sent to Brazil from China.

From 2003 to now, Lula's social policies have benefited 1100 million families, the income of the poor has increased by 22% in two and a half years, 500 million new jobs have been created, the minimum wage has reached the highest level in more than 20 years, and the proportion of the middle class in the national population has risen to 52%.

Thanks to this political achievement, Lula's current public support rate in Brazil is as high as 90%, making him the president with the highest public support rate in Brazilian history.

Even now, Lula is still called the 'Son of Brazil'!
Lula is also seen internationally as a defender of South-South cooperation and has been working hard to break away from dependence on developed countries in Europe and the United States.

The size of the Brazilian delegation led by Lula this time is unprecedented.

During this visit to China, Lula once again emphasized that China is a priority cooperation partner in Brazil's foreign policy, and that the relationship between Brazil and China should become a model for common development and peaceful coexistence between countries in the future. China is Brazil's Asian friend, strategic partner, and diplomatic priority country.

Lula even led a delegation to watch a match between the Brazilian national team and the Chinese men's football team in Shanghai.

What made many people upset was that the Chinese men's football team was beaten 0-8!

The poor performance of the Chinese men's football team is also frustrating. They are ranked around 40th or 50th in the world.

Brazil is a world-renowned football kingdom, and like Argentina, it is a world football powerhouse. Lula was not in a good mood either. He had clearly told them before that they should give in a little, and even lose. But in the end, they lost 0-8. How can they carry out football diplomacy?
Liu Tao also attended the game and he looked helpless. Everyone could see that the Brazilian football team had tried their best to give in, but they just couldn't live up to expectations.

He can only comfort himself that the Chinese national football team is the balancer of the country's destiny.

Suddenly, an idea came to Liu Tao's mind. Should the Chinese Super League be allowed to absorb football talents from South America and Europe like those European leagues, so as to promote the development of the Chinese Super League and thus drive the development of Chinese football?
The more I think about it, the more I think something is wrong.

After arriving in Beijing, Liu Tao instructed his secretary to include football cooperation in the agenda of the meeting between the two sides.

Football, Brazil is absolutely second to none in the field of football.

Not to mention the "King of Football" Pele of the past, even the "alien" Ronaldo is still famous now.

There is also the super star 'Kaka', who has also made a name for himself in AC Milan.

Unlike Argentina, Lula's visit to China this time involved very little military purchases, probably worth hundreds of millions of RMB. After all, unlike Argentina's desire to take back the Falkland Islands, Brazil has no such demand.

Over the past two decades, Brazil has made small-scale arms purchases, making its military strength strong.

Brazil's military consists of regular army and paramilitary forces. The regular army is divided into three branches: the army, navy and air force, with 31.47 active troops and 134 million reserve troops. The army has 22.27 active troops, 437 Type 80 main battle tanks and Type 81 medium tanks, 81 Type 81 light tanks and Type 500 amphibious tanks, and 1000 tracked and wheeled armored vehicles.

巴西的海军现役兵力8万人，拥有18艘主力作战舰艇，包括12艘054型护卫舰、3艘登陆舰、3艘052型驱逐舰，此外还有10艘022型导弹艇、10艘022A型鱼雷艇。

At last year's Zhuhai Air Show, Brazil signed a contract for a Type 001 light aircraft carrier.

巴西空军，现役兵力6万人，拥有150歼6战斗机、100架歼7系列战斗机、100架歼8系列战斗机、20架歼轰7战斗机，以及K8初教机、歼7高教机、歼7A高教机、雄鹰高教机三十多架。

In the latest international military power ranking, Brazil's military strength is ranked 15th.

Therefore, during Lula's visit to China this time, the topics of discussion are more about politics, economy, culture and other fields, while the military field is about exchanges between the two sides rather than arms purchases.

Lula was somewhat surprised at the newly added topic of football cooperation, but was mostly happy.

Whether China sends players to Brazil for training, or Brazilian coaches, players, etc. come to China for development, this will only benefit Brazil and not harm it, because it can increase revenue.

Brazilian football is also an area that Brazil has always been proud of.

Brazilian football has long become a business card of Brazil.

In all the football in the world, the only one that can be compared with Brazilian football is Argentine football!

Moreover, through cooperation in football, the relationship between Brazil and China can be consolidated, which is beneficial to Brazil in every way.

In particular, Liu Tao personally treated the Brazilian national team to steak, which allowed Lula to see Liu Tao's love for football.

Lula was naturally very clear about the importance of Liu Tao.

In Brazil, Liu Tao has been praised as an "old friend of the Brazilian people" since the 80s! (End of this chapter)