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Xi, Lula urge BRICS expansion at summit of emerging economies
The BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which represent a quarter of the global economy, are meeting for three days and interest in joining the group has surged.
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President of China Xi Jinping (left) delivers opening remarks from their meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (right) after being bestowed with the Order of South Africa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on August 22, 2023.
(AFP/Phill Magakoe)
C
hina on Tuesday threw its weight behind plans to expand the loosely-defined BRICS club of large emerging economies, which is seeking to assert its political and economic clout on the global stage.
The BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which represent a quarter of the global economy, are meeting for three days and interest in joining the group has surged.
In a speech read on his behalf by his Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at the start the BRICS summit in South Africa, President Xi Jinping said "hegemonism is not in China's DNA".
He said the talks taking place in Johannesburg were not aimed at "asking countries to take sides, or creating bloc confrontation, rather to expand the architect of peace and development".
"Whatever resistance there may be, BRICS, a positive and stable force for goodwill continue to grow," he said. "We will forge a stronger BRICS strategic partnership, ...actively advance membership expansion", and "help make the international order more just and equitable".
China is the BRICS most powerful economy and Xi's state visit to South Africa, just his second international trip this year, comes as Beijing pushes to rapidly expand the group's membership.
Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he wanted Argentina to join the BRICS group of emerging countries, as Brazil's neighbor struggles with a lack of foreign reserves.
