XINHUA
CHINESE President Xi Jinping said yesterday emerging market and developing countries are playing an ever greater role in international affairs.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the Brics Business Forum in the south-eastern Chinese city of Xiamen, he described Brics co-operation as “a natural choice” made by the five countries in the bloc, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Xi said the bloc had become a bright spot in the global economy in the past decade.
Together, the five countries accounted for 23 percent of the global economy in 2016 - almost double their share in 2006 - and had contributed to more than half of global growth.
Xi said the past decade has seen the countries making headway in pursuing common development, with their combined GDP having grown 179% while their trade increased 94% and their urban populations expanded 28%.
The bloc has contributed significantly to stabilising the global economy and returning it to growth, and has delivered tangible benefits to more than three billion people, he said.
“Leveraging our respective strengths and converging interests, we have put in place a leaders-driven co-operation framework that covers wide-ranging areas and multiple levels,” Xi said.
The New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement have provided financing support for Brics infrastructure building and sustainable development, contributing to enhanced global economic governance and the building of an international financial safety net, he said.
He also cited recent advances in co-operation on e-commerce, trade and investment facilitation, trade in services, local currency bond issuance, scientific and technological innovation, industrial co-ordination and public-private partnerships.
The leaders of the five Brics countries are meeting at the ninth summit of the bloc in Xiamen, which started yesterday and runs until tomorrow.
An important side event at the Brics summit, the business forum serves as a platform for business leaders to discuss issues of common concern, build consensus and raise policy suggestions.
Xi said the development of emerging market and developing countries was not intended to “move the cheese of anyone” but to “make the pie of the global economy bigger”.
He also called for more substantial economic co-operation among the Brics countries as their economies face challenges posed by shrinking global demand and rising financial risks.
To this end, the Brics economies should pursue innovation-driven development created by smart manufacturing, the internet-plus model and the digital economy, Xi said.
He said Brics countries should improve macro-economic policy co-ordination, synergise development strategies, leverage strengths in their industrial structures and resource endowments and create value chains and a big market for shared interests to achieve interconnected development.
“We should blaze a new path which may also help other emerging markets and developing countries to seize opportunities and meet challenges,” Xi said.
Coined by former Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001, the term “Bric” referred to Brazil, Russia, India and China, four emerging economies with fast growth and great potential.
The Bric grouping was formally established in 2006. In 2010, South Africa joined the group, and the acronym was changed to Brics.