Editor's note: Iara Vidal is a Brazilian journalist, who writes for the column China em Foco at Revista Forum. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The historic visit of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to China, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, raised Sino-Brazilian relations to a higher level. 

The two countries signed 15 agreements on space cooperation, research and innovation, digital economy and fight against hunger, exchange of communication content and trade facilitation.More than 20 agreements were signed between Brazilian and Chinese companies.  

The song performed by the military band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army at Tiananmen Square to welcome the Brazilian delegation before entering the Great Hall of the People shows the character of the visit well. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, the Itamaraty, made the choice and passed it on to the Chinese ceremonial team. 

The song was released in 1980, when Brazil was still living under a military dictatorship, so it carries the hope of a new time and it has similarities with the current period. 

The choice of this song moved one of the composers, Ivan Lins. On social media. He said: "Friends. I'm thrilled! You can't imagine how much this means to me and Vitor [Martins]. The lyrics of 'Novo Tempo,' already in 1980, tried to lift the spirits of our much loved people," he posted. 

Now, the song renews its meaning by referring to changes in the world that haven't been seen in a century. It sums up the feeling of renewed geopolitics and the leading role of China and Brazil, two of the largest developing countries in the Global South. 

In this new era, despite the dangers, both Brazil and China remain attentive and united in building a multipolar world based on win-win cooperation and mutual respect. 

One of the dangers of the high-level strategic partnership between Brazil and China is the reaction of the U.S., which sees its global hegemony threatened. This sentiment was expressed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who declared that the West has lost Brazil. 

Besides the absurd expression of "losing" a sovereign nation, Trump's fear is mainly motivated by what President Lula said in his speech during the inauguration of former Brazilian President Dilma Vana Roussef as president of the New Development Bank (NBD), the lender of the BRICS, a group that brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

In his speech, Lula said that, with Roussef, the NBD – which already includes Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay – will become the great bank of the Global South, creating an alternative for trade among countries without dollar use. 

For the first time, a development bank with a global reach is established without the participation of developed countries in its initial phase. 

The BRICS bank will be free from the shackles of conditions imposed by traditional financial institutions on emerging economies. In addition, it will have the possibility of financing projects in local currencies. The creation of this bank shows that the union of emerging countries is capable of generating serious social and economic changes for the world. 

The Brazilian president also criticized the hegemonic position of the United States in dollar-denominated international trade. 

"Who decided it was the dollar? We need to have a currency that transforms countries into a slightly more peaceful situation, because currently a country needs to run after the dollar to export," said Lula, who also criticized the interference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the economy of the countries. 

In this new era, may the hope of the Brazilian and Chinese people be a path towards building a shared future towards the development of the Global South.

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