ANKARA

Chinese President Xi Jinping met his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations, including trade and investment.

Lula hosted a grand ceremony to welcome his counterpart at the Alvorada Palace, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a post on X.

Xi arrived in the capital for a state visit after attending the 19th G20 leaders' summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Earlier, the ministry said Beijing hoped the visit would strengthen the friendship between the two countries and their peoples.

Ahead of his visit, Xi said he was looking forward to an in-depth exchange of views with his Brazilian counterpart on further enhancing bilateral relations, promoting synergy of the two countries' development strategies, and international and regional issues of common interest.

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $105 billion in 2023.