Posters are hung in a street to welcome the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug 20, 2023. The 15th BRICS summit is to be held in Johannesburg from Aug. 22 to 24. Photo: China News Service

China's trade with other BRICS member economies has kept expanding in the first seven months this year, which serve as a potent driving force for the recovery of the overall global economy, data from Chinese customs said.

China's foreign trade with other BRICS members including Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa totaled 2.38 trillion yuan ($325.7 billion) in January-July period, up 19.1 percent on a yearly basis, accounting for 10.1 percent in China's overall foreign trade value over the same period, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over last year, according to the General Administration of Customs. 

Chinese shipment to BRICS members reached 1.23 trillion yuan, up 23.9 percent year-on-year, while imports from those countries rose 14.3 percent to reach 1.15 trillion yuan in the first seven months.

Riding on the wave of BRICS cooperation mechanism, Chinese private enterprises have become a major force in driving trade growth.

Trade volume facilitated by private firms to other member states of BRICS hit 1.36 trillion yuan in the first seven months, accounting for nearly 60 percent of China's trade with those states over the same period, ranking the first spot compared with the trade value made by state-owned enterprises with a 25.3 percent stake and foreign-funded firms with 17.5 percent.

In terms of commodity categories, machinery and electronic products took a lion share in China's exports to other member countries of BRICS with goods trade totaling 759.45 billion yuan, up 38 percent year-on-year. Among them, shipments of lithium batteries and electric vehicles both doubled, with growth rates hitting 129.5 percent and 601.3 percent respectively. And the exports of auto parts, household electric appliances, and agricultural machinery all grew by over 40 percent.

Import figures showed that energy and agricultural products made up major shipments from other BRICS economies to China during the January-July period.

China imported 422.78 billion yuan worth of energy products such as crude oil, coal, lignite, and natural gas, an increase of 17.3 percent, accounting for 36.7 percent of the country's total import from other BRICS countries. Meanwhile, agricultural goods accounted for 23.5 percent at 270.24 billion yuan.

BRICS, an emerging-market group that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, represents approximately 40 percent of the global population and accounts for 25 percent of the global economy size.

Since its establishment, the multilateral cooperation mechanism has provided various development tools based on partnership and joint growth, in comparison with the Western model that pursues its own interests.

South Africa will host the upcoming BRICS 2023 Summit Meeting from August 22 to 24, after the country took up the one-year rotating chairmanship of the BRICS group in January. It will be the first in-person BRICS summit since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The expansion of BRICS, a common currency within the bloc and ensuring food and energy security are among key topics of the summit agenda, according to media reports.

Global Times