When the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1974, Santos was appointed by Chinese government again to deal with the legal issues in building the Chinese embassy in Brazil.

In November 2003, in order to recognize Santos' contribution, Cheng Siwei, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and head of the China and Latin America Friendship Association, awarded the "Latin American Friendship Medal" to him.

Talking about his trips to China, Santos said that "last year I went to China three times."

In January he and his wife went to Beijing for sight-seeing, and in April he was invited to China to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Brazil and China Friendship Association.

In November, he visited China to attend an awarding ceremony held by the China Central Television.

Witnessing China's incredible changes since the beginning of opening up and reform, Santos said China deserves world-wide compliment.

"Nowadays Chinese people always dressed beautifully and are very proud of their country. Chinese government attaches great importance to education. Hospitals in China are able to compete with the ones in Europe and the United States," Santos added.

Santos said that Brazil and China have cooperation under the framework of the BRICS mechanism. However, more efforts should be carried out to tap into the potential for cooperation between the two developing countries.

On Dec. 18, 2014, Brazilian government eventually made an official announcement to withdraw the deportation order for the nine men, admitting that they had not done any wrong-doings.

After receiving the announcement, Santos cried. As an old friend of Chinese people, he is willing to see that Brazilian people choose to face the true history and promote better mutual trust between the two countries.

"Now I'm old. But in Brazil there are more and more people like me to actively promote the friendship between the two countries. But I will always be ready to continuously make my contribution," said the 81-year-old Santos.