Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry

 
Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech laid out the aspirations of developing countries, charted a clear course for the reform of the global governance system and gathered strength for global economic recovery, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters Friday night.

Wang's comment came after Xi chaired and attended a series of BRICS-related meetings from Wednesday to Friday.

This is the most important diplomatic event that China hosted before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China later this year. It is of great significance for jointly safeguarding international justice, revitalizing the cause of global development, and pushing forward the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Wang said.

Xi attended the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum virtually on Wednesday and delivered a keynote speech. Xi hosted the 14th BRICS Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in Beijing via video link, respectively on Thursday and Friday.

At the summit, Xi said that "Our world today is overshadowed by the dark clouds of Cold War mentality and power politics, and beset by constantly emerging traditional and non-traditional security threats. Some countries attempt to expand military alliances to seek absolute security, stoke bloc-based confrontation by coercing other countries into picking sides, and pursue unilateral dominance at the expense of others' rights and interests. If such dangerous trends are allowed to continue, the world will witness even more turbulence and insecurity."

"It is important that BRICS countries support each other on issues concerning core interests, practice true multilateralism, safeguard justice, fairness and solidarity and reject hegemony, bullying and division," he said.

President Xi said the BRICS countries should advocate true multilateralism, safeguard the international system with the UN at the core as well as the international order based on international law, abandon Cold War mentality and oppose unilateral sanction, according to Wang.

Xi also noted in his speech that the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has resulted in disruptions to global industrial and supply chains, sustained hikes of commodity prices, and weaker international monetary and financial systems. All these have cast shadows over development worldwide, and emerging markets and developing countries bear the brunt. But just as a crisis may bring chaos, it can also spur change. A lot will depend on how we handle the crisis.

Xi called on efforts to boost connectivity of industrial and supply chains and jointly meet challenges in poverty reduction, agriculture, energy, logistics and other fields. 

"We should support greater development of the New Development Bank and a steady process to admit new members, and improve the Contingent Reserve Arrangement to cement the BRICS financial safety net and firewall. We should also expand BRICS cooperation on cross-border payment and credit rating to facilitate trade, investment and financing among our countries," Xi said.

President Xi Jinping's speech is clear-cut and powerful, expressing the common aspiration of developing countries to love peace and tranquility and oppose hegemony and power, and uttered the voice of justice and peace, Wang said. 

At the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, President Xi said it is important that we put development front and center on the international agenda, and deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Wang said.

He pointed out that the North and the South need to work in the same direction to forge a united, equal, balanced and inclusive global development partnership and in this process, no country or individual should be left behind, Wang said.

Apart from the BRICS countries, leaders of G20 rotating chair Indonesia, APEC rotating chair Thailand, ASEAN rotating chair Cambodia, Egypt, Iran and other emerging economies and developing countries also joined the dialogue, demonstrating its wide representation and international influence, Wang noted.

President Xi called for efforts to steer globalization toward healthy development, increase the representation of emerging markets and developing economies in global economic governance, Wang said.

He urged the major developed economies to take responsible economic policies to avoid negative spillover effects of their policies and to prevent severe shocks for developing countries, according to Wang.

The BRICS countries, accounting for 42 percent of the world population and 25 percent of global economy, represent the trend of the collective rise of major developing countries, Wang said.

The BRICS mechanism has become the most influential South-South cooperation platform, Wang said, adding that President Xi said BRICS membership should be expanded to allow like-minded partners to join at an early date.

Global Times - Xinhua