JOINT EFFORTS BY BRICS NATIONS URGED TO BOOST GLOBAL GROWTH

President Xi Jinping has called for joint efforts with other BRICS members to usher in the second dynamic decade of the emerging markets’ bloc to benefit the people of all countries.

In his keynote speech at the BRICS Business Forum in coastal Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sunday, Xi said the BRICS members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — have set up a number of cooperative institutions, such as the New Development Bank, in the 10 years following the launch of the BRICS mechanism in 2006.

The BRICS countries have made great contributions to global economic growth and benefited more than 3 billion people despite the shadow of the 2008 global financial crisis, Xi said. The five countries’ economies have grown in total by 179 percent in the past decade, with trade volume rising by 94 percent and the urbanized population by 28 percent in the same period, he added.

Noting that the BRICS members are facing the same development goals in spite of their different national situations, Xi said that “economic cooperation is the foundation of the BRICS mechanism”.

The emerging markets and developing countries should make positive contributions to global economic growth through such measures as pushing to build an open world economy, facilitating trade and investment and making new global value chains, he said.

The development of emerging markets and developing countries is not intended to harm anyone’s interests “but to make the pie of the global economy bigger”, he said.

Noting that the BRICS countries will have dialogue with five other emerging markets and developing countries during the summit, Xi said the BRICS Plus cooperation mode should be promoted to benefit more emerging markets and developing countries.

“It’s easy to break one arrow but hard to break 10 arrows bundled together,” he said.

The president called on the BRICS countries to shoulder responsibility for safeguarding world peace and seeking cooperation instead of confrontation. He noted that this year, while China has held the rotating presidency of BRICS, the group has enhanced security cooperation.

“We should uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and basic norms govthey erning international relations, firmly support multilateralism, work for greater democracy in international relations and oppose hegemonism and power politics,” he said.

Xi said that because of differences in national situations, history and culture, it’s inevitable that the five countries will have disagreements, but as long as uphold cooperation and boost mutual trust, their path of cooperation will be stable.

The president also highlighted the importance of people-to-people exchanges with such events as cultural festivals, movie festivals and sports games under the BRICS framework, which he said will boost friendship between the peoples of the five countries.

Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma attended the opening of the BRICS Business Forum, a sideline event of the BRICS Summit. About 1,200 people, including more than 1,000 senior executives of 630 companies from China and abroad, joined the two-day forum.

Xi spoke highly of the contributions of business leaders to building economic partnership among BRICS members. He vowed to encourage Chinese companies to invest overseas and welcome foreign companies to expand their business in China.

BRICS should promote trade liberalization and an open world economy, and its member states — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — must explore ways to innovate economically. This, in gist, was the message of President Xi Jinping at the opening of the Business Forum of the three-day 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen, East China’s Fujian province, on Sunday. And true to the theme, “A Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future”, the leaders of the five member states attending the summit are committed to further strengthening their cooperation mechanism and making greater efforts to improve global governance. The five emerging economies will hold in-depth discussions on issues of common concern, including the world economy, global governance, international and regional issues, and national security and development.

The rest of the world is expected to pay close attention to the resolutions of the BRICS leaders to improve their decade-old mechanism, strengthen their cooperation, and better coordinate their development strategies on regional and international issues, because they are aimed at building a better world.

That the BRICS economies contributed more than half of global economic growth, however, is not enough. They should seize the opportunities offered by such global challenges as a sluggish world economic recovery and the trend of anti-globalization in some economies, and use their position as the world economy’s strongest engine, to build a fairer global financial and trade system.

As Xi said, the development trend of BRICS remains unchanged despite the challenges its member states are facing, because one of the strongest aspects of BRICS is its global vision, meaning it is committed to bringing benefits to the people in not only the five countries but also the rest of the world.

The BRICS’ spirit of openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation marks a major departure from the West-led international relations of zero-sum game, and better reflects a multilateral world. As such, it will help build a more balanced and inclusive global economy.

Due to their different political and cultural backgrounds, the cooperation among BRICS members has not always been smooth. But, like Xi said, as long as they put greater faith in cooperation and keep building mutual trust, the road paved by BRICS can only strengthen their coordination and partnerships.

The Xiamen summit, therefore, looks set to usher in another “golden decade” for BRICS.