Chinese President Xi Jinping's reply to letters from friendly personages in Brazil will inspire more cultural exchanges and deepen cooperation across various fields between the two countries, said the authors of the original letters.
Former Vice Mayor of Campinas Henrique Teixeira, and more than 100 others, including members of the Brazil-China Friendship Association, faculty members and students of the University of Sao Paulo and Sao Paulo State University, and the Copacabana Fort Orchestra recently sent letters to President Xi, expressing gratitude to the Chinese government, enterprises and universities for their contributions to China-Brazil exchanges and the improvement of local livelihood.
"We wrote to President Xi to express our respect and love for him first. Secondly, we want to thank him for his long-term support for the development of China-Brazil relations. Third, we want to wish him a smooth trip to Brazil and a fruitful visit to the G20 Summit," said Luis Antonio Paulino, director of the Confucius Institute at Sao Paulo State University in Brazil.
In his reply, Xi wrote that he was glad to see that the friendship between China and Brazil had passed down through generations, and the two countries have joined hands to share weal and woe, becoming good friends across the seas and oceans.
"I agree with the vision shared by President Xi in his letter. Although China and Brazil are geographically distant and have different cultures and languages, friendship is what brings our two countries together. We are developing not only economic and trade relations but also social and cultural ties," said Henrique Nobrega, president of the Brazil-China Friendship Association.
Many students and faculty from the University of Sao Paulo have connected with China through a program which invited them to film documentaries across China and learn about the country's rich culture and achievements in social development.
One faculty member said she felt encouraged by President Xi's reply and hoped to strengthen cultural ties with China through filmmaking.
"I was very happy to hear today that we got a letter from President Xi Jinping. It's a great honor to me and to my students here at the department of film at the University of Sao Paulo. And I was specially touched by what he said about the friendship between Brazil and China, that we became friends through mountains and seas," said Cecilia Mello, a professor at the university's School of Communications and Arts.
"The letter from President Xi mentioned the friendship within China and Brazil and how this works and goes from generation to generation. I am from the younger generation that has this kind of close bound with China. And I think my films can share a little bit of this relation to newer generations. So I think there is a lot of things that we'll keep alive during the time, and I think films has the power to do that," said a student of the film department of the university's School of Communications and Arts.
Márcia Melchior, person in charge of the Copacabana Fort Orchestra, which has participated in cultural exchanges between Brazil and China, said she is looking forward to closer people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
"The letter mentions that our two countries are expected to become a model of unity, cooperation and common development, and we are deeply inspired by this. Just as the mighty Yangtze River symbolizes strength and vitality, and the Amazon River flows through the Amazon Rainforest, symbolizing environmental hope, we believe that the friendship between our two countries can be further strengthened," she said.
Xi's reply to letters from friendly personages in Brazil to inspire cultural exchanges
