Brazil’s Lula cancels trip to China due to pneumonia

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva observes a piece of a meteorite as he visits the reconstruction works of the Brazil National Museum which was devastated by a fire in 2018, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil March 23, 2023. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo

The Brazilian government has informed the Chinese authorities of the postponement and its intention to reschedule the visit.

The trip, which was to include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, was viewed as a significant effort by the new leftist president to enhance relations with Brazil’s largest trading partner.

Lula took office in January. He was initially scheduled to travel on Saturday, but had already postponed his departure to Sunday after being diagnosed with mild pneumonia.

He was going to travel with a large delegation including a half-dozen cabinet ministers, plus governors, lawmakers and 240 business leaders. More than a third of the business leaders were from Brazil’s farm sector, which sends the lion’s share of its beef, soybeans and wood pulp to China.

With the cancellation, attention now turns to the presentation of an eagerly awaited fiscal framework in Brazil, which was initially promised by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad for March, but was postponed by Lula until after the China trip.

Haddad, who originally was to have traveled with Lula, will no longer go to China, according to his press office.

The new framework is considered essential to addressing fiscal concerns after Lula secured congressional approval for a multibillion-real package that circumvents the constitutional spending cap to boost social spending and fulfill campaign promises.