Lula Advocates From China For De-dollarization In World Trade

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday criticized the U.S. dollar's dominance in world trade and urged developing nations to find an alternative currency.

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In his first official act within the framework of his official visit to China, Lula said, "Why can't a bank like BRICS have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other countries?"

His comments came at the New Shanghai Development Bank while participating in the inauguration of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) as head of the BRICS bank.

On the occasion, the Brazilian president referred to draconian cuts in public spending in exchange for loans from the U.S.-based International Monetary Fund.

"No bank can be suffocating the economies of countries as the IMF is doing now in Argentina or as they did with Brazil for so long and with all the countries of the third world," Lula said.

Good Morning in Brazil! In Shanghai, I attended the investiture of Dilma Rousseff's inauguration as president of the New Development Bank of the BRICS and visited Huawei's factory.  The NDB is a great initiative for a more balanced development of the world.

Lula also brought up his commitment to putting Brazil back on the international scene. "The time when Brazil was absent from major world decisions is now a thing of the past. We are back on the international scene after an inexplicable absence," the President said.

Lula arrived the day before in China to begin a three-day official visit, his fourth official visit to the Asian nation.

The Brazilian President is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday. Both will sign more than 20 bilateral agreements, among them one that establishes that business between both nations will be conducted in their local currencies, leaving out the U.S. dollar in transactions.