Beijing, China - Chinese President Xi Jinping threw his support being Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday, calling out the US' "external interference" on the country's elections.
"China highly values Brazil's international status and important influence," Xi told Lula during a phone call on Monday, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Beijing "supports Brazil in safeguarding its sovereignty and independence, opposing external interference, and contributing to maintaining regional and world peace and stability," Xi added.
According to a statement from the Brazilian presidency, Lula and Xi also "agreed on the importance of speeding up negotiations for a Mercosur-China agreement," referring to a regional trading bloc.
During the call, which lasted "more than one hour," Lula said he was "committed to diversifying markets and trade partners," especially amid tariff pressure on Brazil from the US, its second-largest trading partner.
While Xi did not make explicit reference to the US, the call comes less than three months before a tense election in Brazil which will pit him against the right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who has President Donald Trump's backing.
Washington imposed two rounds of tariffs this month on various Brazilian products, after an initial major tariff hike in 2025 as retaliation for a coup-plot trial that sent former president Jair Bolsonaro to prison.
Lula denounced Washington's tariff pressure as an attempt to exert political influence over the country's elections, penning a piece in the Washington Post on Sunday declaring the sanctions a "strategic mistake."
Flavio Bolsonaro – son of the former president and a current senator – has recently renewed unfounded claims that the country's voting system is insecure, while Trump Trump continues to make similar false claims about US elections.
The Brazilian statement on the call between Lula and Xi did not mention whether the issue of "external interference," mentioned by Xinhua, was raised.