CHINA / DIPLOMACY
China expects positive results from BRICS summit: official
Published: Jul 08, 2014 09:56 AM Updated: Jul 14, 2014 05:53 PM
China expects positive results from the coming summit of BRICS leaders, Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said at a press briefing on Monday.

The sixth leaders summit of BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - will be held in Brazil from July 15 to 16. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Jacob Zuma and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the summit. They will also meet with leaders of South American countries.

Li expects the summit to focus on four areas: experiences of BRICS cooperation; developing BRICS by strengthening coordination; cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, finance, infrastructure and people-to-people exchange; and expanded connection between the markets of BRICS and South America.

He said BRICS should play up the spirit of partnership and explore new avenues of cooperation. Speaking in one voice, BRICS should put forward uniform solutions to improve global economic governance.

China supports the early launch of BRICS Development Bank and Contingency Reserve Arrangement, Li said.

Emerging economies are a rising force in the international arena and dialogue between BRICS and South American leaders will demonstrate the political will to expand connections between the two markets, he said.

The recent slowdown of economic growth in BRICS countries is essentially different from the financial crisis that hit Western countries, Li said.

BRICS economies enjoy sound basics, abundant policy tools and great growth potential. Nearly 100 billion US dollar in the BRICS Development Bank and Contingency Reserve Arrangement and complementary agreements could be sound conditions for sustainable growth, Li said.

"BRICS will be an important driving force of the future world economy," Li said.

On the relationship between BRICS and G7, Li said it is understandable that the G7 group has different views from BRICS and other developing countries on a number of major regional and international issues.

He said BRICS is not interested in confrontation with G7. BRICS' goals are cooperation, world peace and the growth of the world economy. It is important for BRICS countries to maintain international justice, uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter and safeguard their common interest and those rest of the international community.

"BRICS countries seek dialogue and wish to expand common ground and reduce difference through that dialogue," Li said. "Our cooperation mechanism is open, transparent and mutually beneficial. It embodies the spirit of democratization of international relations."

He noted that BRICS is a platform of cooperation for emerging economies, while G7 is a cooperation mechanism of developed countries.

But both are members of G20; both are multilateral cooperation mechanisms with great influence in the global economy and financial sectors. Both play an important role in maintaining the stability of the world economy. The two groups share the same goal of a stable recovery and healthy growth but, Li said.

BRICS cooperation will not be limited in the economic and financial arenas, but includes dialogue on politics and security. Last year, leaders agreed to develop BRICS into a mechanism for daily and long-term coordination on a number of economic and political issues, including cyber security and the fight against terrorism.

"We believe BRICS will definitely make a contribution to the peace, prosperity and stability of the world," Li said.