President Xi Jinping has called for strengthening the bond between China and Brazil to make their bilateral relationship an example among major developing countries.

Xi made the remarks in a recent letter of reply to friendly personages in Brazil.

In the letter, he expressed his delight in witnessing the torch of friendship between China and Brazil being passed on from generation to generation.

Over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two nations have marched forward hand in hand, sharing weal and woe, and have forged a friendship spanning mountains and oceans, he said.

China is willing to work with Brazil to enrich the friendship between the two countries in the new era and make China-Brazil relations an example of solidarity, coordination, common development and mutual benefit among major developing countries, thereby making greater contributions to the cause of peace and progress of mankind, he added.

In the letter, Xi welcomed Brazilian friends to visit China more often and witness firsthand the myriad facets of Chinese modernization.

He expressed the hope that people from all walks of life in both countries will play a positive role in advancing the continuous growth of China-Brazil relations and making China-Brazil friendship "flow unceasingly like the Yangtze River and the Amazon River".

Recently, over 100 friendly personages in Brazil, including Enrique Teixeira, former vice-mayor of Campinas in Sao Paulo state, members of the Brazil-China Friendship Association, and students and faculty at the University of Sao Paulo and Sao Paulo State University as well as the Copacabana Fort Orchestra from Rio de Janeiro, wrote to Xi in separate letters, expressing their gratitude for the contributions made by the Chinese government, businesses and universities in fostering friendly exchanges between Brazil and China and improving local people's livelihoods.

The letters came ahead of Xi's upcoming state visit to Brazil, where he will also attend the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The trip, scheduled from Nov 17 to 21, will be Xi's third visit to Brazil in 10 years.

The Foreign Ministry said that during the visit, Xi will hold talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest.

"President Xi Jinping's visit (to Brazil) will further consolidate political mutual trust, improve the strategic significance, innovative nature and leading role of the bilateral relations, enhance synergy between the two countries' development strategies, deepen strategic communication and coordination on global hot spot issues, and jointly open up the next golden 50 years of China-Brazil relations," said Mao Ning, a ministry spokeswoman, at a regular news conference on Friday.

High-level interactions have become more frequent in recent years. In July 2014, Xi went to Brazil to attend the sixth BRICS Summit, and met with leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. In November 2019, he traveled to Brazil again to attend the 11th BRICS Summit.

Lula, an old friend of the Chinese people who has visited China multiple times, chose the country as the destination for his first foreign visit outside the Americas after taking office as Brazilian president last year.

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