Beijing pledges small increase in BRICS funding

XIAMEN: China will give 500 million yuan (RM326.277 million) for a BRICS economic and technology cooperation plan, and another US$4 million (RM17.08) for projects at the BRICS countries’ New Development Bank (NDB), Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday.

The newly announced US$80 million funding plan pales in comparison to China’s US$124 billion pledge earlier in May in a push for Xi’s own Belt and Road initiative, which aims to expand links among Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond as a new way to boost global development.

The announcement came amid questions over the relevance of BRICS and China’s commitment to its NDB in light of the Belt and Road initiative and the Chinaled Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Xi said BRICS countries should increase cooperation in sectors such as trade and investment, monetary and finance, and sustainable development.

“We should redouble our efforts to comprehensively deepen BRICS partnerships and open BRICS cooperation,” he said at a BRICS leaders’ summit in Xiamen.

The heads of state from the BRICS group of emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will gather in Xiamen today, giving host China its latest chance to position itself as a bulwark of globalisation in the face of US President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda. – Reuters