Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Brazilian counterpart on Monday that he supports the country in “opposing external interference”, Beijing’s state media said, reporting a call between the leaders.

The conversation between Xi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva comes less than three months before a tense election in Brazil pitting the incumbent against right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro.

“China highly values Brazil’s international status and important influence,” Xi told Lula, according to state news agency Xinhua.

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”, amid tariff pressure on Brazil from the United States, its second-largest trading partner.

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 has denounced Washington’s tariff pressure as an attempt to exert political influence in an election year.

In another recent development, Brazil denied visas for two officials from the United States who sought to meet this week with election authorities in Brasilia ahead of the October vote, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday.

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 US President Donald Trump continues to make false claims about American 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.