Backgrounder: China-Brazil relations

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao is to arrive in Brasilia on Wednesday to attend the second summit of the BRIC countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India and China.

He will also pay a state visit to Brazil at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Since China and Brazil forged diplomatic ties on Aug. 15, 1974, the two have steadily promoted their bilateral relationship through high-level exchanges and various cooperations. The two countries also established a strategic partnership in 1993.

In recent years, frequent high-level visits have been reflecting their strengthened political mutual trust.

In May 2004, Brazilian President Lula paid a state visit to China and met with Chinese President Hu. The two leaders held talks on bilateral ties and several issues of common concern, and issued a joint communique pledging to further strengthen their strategic partnership.

In November 2004, Hu paid a state visit to Brazil and held talks with Lula and other leaders of the country. During their meeting, the two sides exchanged views on deepening bilateral cooperation and signed a number of cooperation agreements.

Since 2008, Hu and Lula have also met on the sidelines of several global summits, such as the outreach session of the Group of 8 and the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.

In 2009, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Brazil in February, and Lula visited China in August.

Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis last year, China and Brazil have cooperated even more closely on issues like the global economy, international financial reform and climate change.

China and Brazil have also signed several cooperation documents covering economy, technology, culture, education, health care, military exchanges and other fields.

Close bilateral cooperation has ensured steady growth in their two-way trade.

According to Brazilian statistics, bilateral trade volume has grown from 9.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2004, to 36 billion dollars in 2009, when China surpassed the United States as the largest trading partner of the South American nation.