Brazil’s vice-president went to Beijing on a delicate and sensitive mission: to rescue the relationship with his country’s biggest trading partner, strained by repeated anti-China comments from his rightwing nationalist boss, President Jair Bolsonaro.
By the time Hamilton Mourão returned home from last week’s state visit, which included a meeting with Xi Jinping, his trip was already being hailed as a diplomatic success.
From the globally sensitive subject of Huawei’s market access to reinvigorating Chinese investment in Brazil’s stuttering economy, Mr Mourão’s diplomatic offensive set the scene for a deeper partnership between the eastern and western hemisphere’s largest developing nations, say analysts, officials and members of his delegation.