BRICS File photo:VCG

Arranged by Russia, the current BRICS chair, a formal meeting of BRICS foreign ministers will be held at the beginning of September, and China expects to exchange views with other members on challenges faced by the international community and make preparations for a BRICS leaders' meeting, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday.

While making efforts to prevent and control new virus outbreaks at home, the five countries have actively boosted earnest cooperation in various sectors and jointly maintained cooperation momentum by flexibly holding meetings and events, Wang said at a regular press briefing.

He said that China supports Russia's role as the current BRICS chair and that China hopes cooperation among BRICS members will see new progress through joint efforts under Russian leadership.

BRICS countries have agreed to strengthen cooperation in areas including e-commerce, intellectual property rights (IPR), and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a Thursday meeting attended by economic and trade ministers of BRICS countries.

The members vowed to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system, oppose unilateralism and protectionism, support the necessary reform of the WTO and protect the lawful rights and interests of developing BRICS members.

Wang stressed that BRICS countries should strengthen economic and trade cooperation amid the global pandemic so as to boost their own economic recoveries and stabilize the operations of global industrial and supply chains, contributing to global economic recovery.

BRICS is comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Global Times