On August 15, 2024, we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the People’s Republic of China. This is an opportune moment to reflect on the path we have already taken and the promising prospects for the next fifty years. Five decades ago, in Beijing, the date was celebrated with a cup of coffee offered by Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Francisco Azeredo da Silveira to his Chinese counterpart Qiao Guanhua. A photo from that time is still on display at the Brazilian Embassy in that country.

Since 1974, Brazil and China have shown remarkable development and strengthened their place in the world. During this period, China’s growing international prominence has become one of the most defining phenomena in contemporary history. The country has demonstrated the greatest economic transformation on the planet and has lifted hundreds of millions of its citizens out of poverty. Brazil has also made great progress since then, in political, economic and social terms. Brazil’s GDP per capita has quadrupled and the extreme poverty rate has been significantly reduced over the last four decades.

Over this time, Brazil and China have been able to identify growing convergences and expand spaces for cooperation, based on mutual respect and in search of concrete results that are advantageous for our societies. Sino-Brazilian relations have become strategic for both parties.