BEIJING, Sept 8 — Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the BRICS countries to jointly defend multilateralism and the multilateral trading system as he attended a virtual BRICS Summit in Beijing today.
"At this critical juncture, BRICS countries, standing at the forefront of the Global South, should act on the BRICS Spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, jointly defend multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, advance greater BRICS cooperation, and build a community with a shared future for humanity," he said, according to Xinhua news agency.
Xi also called on the BRICS countries to uphold multilateralism to defend international fairness and justice.
He said that BRICS countries should uphold openness and win-win cooperation to safeguard the international economic and trade order. BRICS countries should uphold solidarity and cooperation to foster synergy for common development.
Separately, Anadolu Ajansi reported that Xi has urged the bloc to work ‘more closely’.
He noted that BRICS nations account for nearly half of the world’s population, around 30 per cent of global economic output, and one-fifth of global trade.
Stressing that Beijing stands ready to work with BRICS countries, Xi urged the bloc to “leverage our respective strengths, deepen practical cooperation, and make our business, financial, scientific, and technological cooperation.”
The bloc was initially formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with their first summit in 2009.
The alliance later expanded to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
