BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday night for a state visit to China.

As agreed between China and Brazil, Lula is paying a state visit to China from Wednesday to Saturday.

Lula led a large delegation to China shortly after his recovery, which shows how both sides have attached great importance to this visit and the development of bilateral relations.

He was scheduled to meet the head of China's biggest electronic carmaker BYD as well as visit a research center run by telecom giant Huawei on Thursday in Shanghai, before meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday.

“We’re going to consolidate our relationship with China. I'm going to invite President Xi Jinping to come to Brazil for a bilateral meeting, to get to know the country and to show him projects that will be of interest for Chinese investment," Lula said Monday evening before his departure.

In October, BYD said it was planning to set up a vehicle manufacturing plant in northern Brazil's Bahia after Ford Motors closed its factory in the industrial area.

The company is already making electric buses and cars for the Latin American market in Brazil.

Brazil is a huge market for technology giant Huawei — in contrast with the United States, where companies are effectively barred from doing business with the firm.

China is Brazil's biggest export market, buying tens of billions of dollars worth of soybeans, beef and iron ore.

China will work with Brazil and take Lula’s visit as an opportunity to promote the upgrading of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Tuesday.

He added that the two countries will work together to upgrade mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, which will inject positive energy into the promotion of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries and joint efforts to cope with global challenges.

Lula was born on Oct. 27, 1945 in Pernambuco, Brazil. In his early years, he led the labor movement and participated in the creation of the Workers’ Party of Brazil. He also served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil.

He was elected as the 35th president of Brazil in October 2002 and re-elected as president in October 2006. He was elected as president for the third time in October 2022 and inaugurated Jan. 1, 2023. (SD-Xinhua)