BRICS Summit Promotes Unity Among Major Emerging Economies

Leaders from the Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries. The summit of these states will hold their first gathering on African soil this week in the Republic of South Africa., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

BRICS summit promotes unity among major emerging economies: Chinese FM

English.news.cn
2013-03-31 09:51:36

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua)-- The fifth BRICS summit has promoted unity among major emerging economies and injected fresh impetus into the development of the cooperation mechanism, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the summit, which brought together leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as part of his first overseas trip since assuming the presidency earlier this month.

The meeting, held from Tuesday to Wednesday in the South African port city of Durban, marked the first time that the high-profile annual gathering had come to Africa.

At the summit, President Xi expounded on China's view on the future direction, principles and areas of BRICS cooperation, and called for the establishment of a global development partnership among the five major emerging economies, Wang said.

Xi called on the BRICS countries to coordinate their macroeconomic policies and to jointly participate in setting the international development agenda, he added.

The Chinese leader looked forward to deepened cooperation among the BRICS countries on an integrated market for trade and investment, financial and monetary affairs, transportation links, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges, the top Chinese diplomat said.

These proposals, winning appreciation and positive responses from other BRICS leaders, outlined the direction of future BRICS cooperation from a strategic perspective, Wang said.

The summit has yielded tangible fruits as were included in the Durban Declaration and its Action Plan, he said.

The leaders also witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation agreements.

The leaders agreed to set up a BRICS development bank, a Contingent Reserve Arrangement(CRA), a business council and a think tank council.

They also reached broad consensus on jointly dealing with major global and regional issues, reforming the international monetary and financial systems, and promoting the cause of the global development.

Wang said the summit's achievements have sent out a message that the BRICS countries are committed to solidarity, cooperation and win-win results.

The next BRICS summit will be held in Brazil in 2014.


Int'l community speaks highly of Xi's Africa visit, attendance at BRICS summit

English.news.cn 2013-03-31 03:48:58

• The international community has lauded Chinese President Xi Jinping's first visit to Africa.
• Xi sent a positive signal of friendship, cooperation, mutual benefit, win-win results to the world.
• China's participation in the BRICS cooperation mechanism will promote development of the world.

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The international community has lauded Chinese President Xi Jinping's first visit to Africa as the head of state and his attendance at a summit of BRICS nations, saying he sent a positive signal of friendship, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results to the whole world.

Analysts say Xi's Africa trip, which included Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of the Congo, shows China attaches importance to the continent and has determination to devote itself to the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa.

Xi also attended the fifth summit of the BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, held from Tuesday to Wednesday in the South African port city of Durban.

Experts say China's participation in the BRICS cooperation mechanism will promote the development of the whole world including Africa.

HIGHLIGHTING TRADITIONAL FRIENDSHIP WITH AFRICA

Fengxiang Qiao, a professor at the U.S. Texas Southern University, said Xi, in his speech, expounded the China-Africa relations from a historical and future perspective.

Africa had suffered from colonialism and neocolonialism for a long time, he said, adding that China has always been a true friend of the African people.

China and Africa share similar experiences, common development tasks and strategic interests, which link the two peoples even more closely with sincere friendship, mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, Qiao said.

Just like what Xi had said in his speech in Tanzania, China will be for ever a "reliable friend and sincere partner" of Africa, he said.

Sabelo Mavikinduku Ngwenya, a Johannesburg-based political commentator and an international relations expert, said Xi's visit shows that China is an all-weather friend of South Africa and Africa.

"President Xi Jinping's visit to South Africa is a testimony to China's commitment to the two countries' brotherly relations that were formally established in 1998," Ngwenya told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"This visit is a further confirmation that China is South Africa and Africa's friend of all seasons and an equal partner to be relied on at all times," he said.

The partnership between China and Africa was established on the basis of equality and China is playing an important role as Africa's partner, Ngwenya said.

Phyllis Johnson, executive director of the Harare-based Southern Africa Research and Documentation Center, said Xi's Africa visit shows that the new Chinese leadership attaches importance to the China-Africa relations.

Under the new Chinese leadership, the China-Africa relations will move forward on the strength of the rapid development recorded in the past 10 years, Johnson said.

Cooperation between China and Africa enjoys broad prospects, and Africa can learn from China's development model and experience, Johnson said.

WIN-WIN CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION

Mahmoud Allam, former Egyptian ambassador to China, said Xi assured African governments and people that China will be a staunch supporter of Africa's prosperity, stability and security.

Xi also stressed the mutually beneficial friendship between China and Africa, asserting that bilateral cooperation will produce win-win results, Allam said.

Martin Nguru, a lecturer at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies of University of Nairobi, said China and Africa, as Xi put it, have been "a community of shared destinies" and that China's participation in African affairs will help African countries realize their "African dream."

China, as the second largest economy in the world, calls for equality and opposes hegemonism. This has greatly encouraged African countries in their efforts to safeguard sovereignty and independence, Nguru said.

Cheng Li, director of research and senior fellow of the John L. Thomton China Center at The Brookings Institution, said Xi's speeches in Africa sent a message that China's investment in Africa, plus their trade and economic cooperation, would yield win-win results for both sides, instead of benefits for only one party.

China will never extract resources on the continent, but rather facilitate common development through complementarity, he said.

DEEPENING BRICS PARTNERSHIP

Henning Kristofersen, a Norwegian China expert, said Xi at the summit "sent clear and reassuring signals towards the other four countries, as he has wisely focused on developmental similarities, rather than geographical distance and potential difficulties."

"China and the rest of the BRICS countries increasingly stand out as the engines of the world economic development," he said.

At the summit, BRICS countries agreed to establish a development bank and create a foreign exchange reserves pool.

"More formalized cooperation between them (BRICS countries) confirms a serious ambition to challenge the current world order," Kristofersen said.

Elias Jabbour, a Brazilian expert of human geography, said that Xi's words at the BRICS summit have reassured other BRICS nations. He was referring to Xi's remarks that China will "continue to take development as the top priority" and "enhanced cooperation with other BRICS countries has always been a priority on China's diplomatic agenda."

China, with its strength, can become a main force to promote the BRICS development, Jabbour said.

Argemiro Procopio, professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia, said that Xi in his speech called for a global development partnership and common prosperity of all countries, which expressed China's goodwill to its partners.

As BRICS' most populous country with the biggest economy, China's attitude is crucial for its development, Procopio said.

Yakov Berger, a professor at the Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, said Xi's keynote speech at the BRICS summit implies that cooperation among BRICS countries is not only important for themselves but for the reform and reconstruction of the global economic system.

The summit has upgraded the BRICS mechanism and will affect the global economic order, Berger said.

Professor Qiao at the Texas Southern University said the specific steps taken at the BRICS summit are an important complement to the current international foreign exchange mechanism and global financial safety nets.

Moreover, cooperation with Africa is the first of its kind for the group to explicitly extend to the regions outside BRICS nations, he said, adding that the BRICS cooperative mechanism will have more influence on the world economy.


Chinese president pledges never-ending support for Africa

English.news.cn 2013-03-28 22:46:13

DURBAN, South Africa, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Thursday that China-Africa relationship will never cease its development and that China is ready to elevate and broaden its ties with Africa.

"The development of China-Africa ties can only be in present continuous tense, and never in present perfect tense," Xi said at a breakfast meeting with African leaders.

"We are ready to work with African countries to push our ties to a higher level and expand them to a broader area," said Xi, who arrived here Tuesday to attend the fifth BRICS summit, which was joined by African leaders for the first time.

Xi noted that Africa is now in a new critical stage in its pursuit of peace and development.

With a prospering economy and new efforts made in seeking strength from unity, Africa has achieved growing international standing. Meanwhile, it also faces many challenges, Xi said.

"I am confident that, as long as it maintains peace and stability, and actively explores a development path that suits its own conditions, Africa will undoubtedly embrace a brighter future," he said.

The Chinese president said with the international situation undergoing profound and complex changes, China-Africa ties face unprecedented opportunities for development, as well as many challenges that come with new circumstances and new issues.

No matter how the international landcape may change, China will stick to the friendly policy toward Africa, stay forever as a reliable friend and sincere partner of Africa, and strive to make greater contribution to the African cause of peace and development, Xi said.

The Chinese president pledged China will be a steadfast guardian of Africa's peace and stability, a steadfast promoter of Africa's prosperity and development, a steadfast supporter in Africa's pursuit of strength through unity, and a steadfast advocate for Africa in its efforts to seek equal participation in international affairs.

"We are calling on the international community to work together to play a constructive role in Africa's pursuit of peace and development," Xi said.

African leaders also spoke highly of the traditional friendship between Africa and China, voicing hopes of drawing on China's success of development and strengthening Africa-China cooperation.


BRICS summit delivers tangible results, forum pledges to promote partnership with Africa

English.news.cn 2013-03-28 05:21:32

Durban, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of five major emerging economies on Wednesday wrapped up their latest round of summit in the South African city of Durban to promote their partnership for development, integration and industrialization.

It is the first time for the BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to hold their leaders' meeting on the continent of Africa.

CHINA PLEDGES TO ENHANCE BRICS COOPERATION

While addressing the summit in his keynote speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on all BRICS members to work hand in hand for common development.

He pledged that China would strengthen cooperation with other members to make economic growth of BRICS countries more robust and their cooperation better-structured and more productive.

BRICS cooperation not only brings benefits to the peoples of the five countries, but also contributes to promoting democracy in international relations, Xi said.

He said all members should manage their own affairs well by growing the economy and improving people's lives, strengthen coordination of macroeconomic policies, reform the international monetary and financial systems, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

They should jointly participate in the setting of international development agenda and make global development more balanced, he said.

BRICS countries should work hard to boost cooperation in economy and trade, finance, infrastructure, movement of people and other fields, Xi said.

He also called for improving global economic governance and increasing the say and representation of BRICS countries, and urged the BRICS nations to move toward the goal of integrated markets, multi-tiered financial network, connectivity by land, air and sea, and greater cultural exchanges.

TANGIBLE RESULTS

At the summit, the five BRICS members have achieved a number of tangible results, and agreed to expand their future cooperation to more sectors, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The most tangible outcomes, among others, is that the leaders have agreed to establish a development bank for mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS, as well as other emerging and the developing nations.

The BRICS leaders believed that the bank serves as a supplement to the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development, adding that the initial contribution to the bank should be sustainable and sufficient.

Meanwhile, the members also agreed to explore the construction of a financial safety net through the creation of a Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).

The leaders said the idea would help BRICS countries forestall short-term liquidity pressures, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial stability.

In the statement, the countries also expressed their common aspiration to improve global economic governing system.

The leaders vowed to reform international financial system to make them more representative and to reflect the "growing weight" of the BRICS and other developing nations, adding that the leadership selection of international financial institutions should be open, transparent and merit-based.

Additionally, the BRICS nations would explore the possibility of strengthening their cooperation between their state-owned firms, and promote the dialogues among the small and medium-sized companies.

They would also consider to expand their cooperation to more sectors including public diplomacy, anti-corruption, drug control, youth exchanges, tourism, energy and sports.

Also in the statement, the leaders of the BRICS countries voiced their opinions on a series of international hotspots including peace in the Middle East, Iranian nuclear issue, and the situation in Syria, Mali, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan.

COOPERATIVE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN BRICS & AFRICA

Also on Wednesday, the leaders of the BRICS members and some African countries, after the summit, discussed their cooperation at the first BRICS Leaders-Africa Dialogue Forum, which is under the theme "Unlocking Africa's potential: BRICS and Africa cooperation on infrastructure."

While addressing the forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping the dialogue between leaders of BRICS and African countries reflected the political will of both sides to realize equality and inclusiveness and seek common development.

Xi said the Chinese government is willing to form a cooperative partnership for transnational and trans-regional infrastructure, and help the African nations with the consultation, planning, feasibility research and project design of promoting interconnections and resource censor.

He also promised to help Africa to train 300 managing and technical personnel specialized in the field of infrastructure, and encourage Chinese enterprises and financial institutions to participate in the building and operating the infrastructure.

The Chinese leader also reaffirmed China's promise to give zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of the tariff items of exports to China from the least developed nations having diplomatic ties with China.

Other leaders of the BRICS nations said the BRICS countries would like to forge a cooperative partnership with Africa, and help Africa in constructing its infrastructure.

The African leaders said Africa needs to strengthen its infrastructure, promote integration and industrialization, and lift over-all competitiveness and the capacity for sustainable development.

The African nations are willing to set up with the BRICS members a cooperative partnership that highlights mutual support, mutual benefit and win-win results, said the leaders.