Xi urges BRICS to promote open world economy, multilateralism, common development

Chinese President Xi Jinping presides over an informal leaders' meeting of the emerging-market bloc, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged the BRICS members to unswervingly promote the building of an open world economy, multilateralism and common development.

He made the appeal at an informal leaders' meeting of the emerging-market bloc, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) summit in the German port city of Hamburg.

The BRICS leaders exchanged views on the current international political and economic circumstances and the G20's priorities, and reached important agreements on strengthening BRICS unity and coordination, jointly improving global economic governance and promoting sustainable development.

"Currently, the global economy is showing some positive signs, and the prospects for the development of BRICS countries are growing brighter in general, which is very inspiring," said Xi, who presided over the meeting.

However, there have also emerged some challenges that require the BRICS countries to watch closely and handle properly, he added, pointing out that this year's G20 summit comes at a critical moment when the global political and economic situation is undergoing profound adjustments.

Noting that the BRICS countries are all important G20 members, he called on the bloc to support Germany as the host of the summit, and to send a signal that the G20 is committed to fostering partnership, building an open world economy, and boosting global economic growth.

"The BRICS countries should uphold the spirit of partnership that features openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, strengthen unity and cooperation, safeguard common interests and seek interconnected development," he said.

The Chinese leader proposed that the BRICS countries need to unswervingly promote the building of an open world economy, safeguard the multilateral trade system, and steer economic globalization towards openness, inclusiveness, universal benefit, balance and win-win results.

"We should unswervingly follow multilateralism," he said, urging the five-member bloc to push for political and peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and disputes.

Xi also called on the BRICS leaders to improve global economic governance and consolidate the role of the G20 mechanism as the premier platform for international economic cooperation.

The BRICS countries, he suggested, should push all major economies to better coordinate their macroeconomic policies, implement the consensus reached at the Hangzhou and all other previous G20 summits, and create an environment conducive to the development of emerging-market economies and developing countries.

"We should unswervingly promote common development," he added, urging the BRICS nations to push the G20 to follow through on the achievements of last year's Hangzhou summit, including an action plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an initiative to support industrialization in African and the least developed countries.

Noting that the BRICS leaders will gather in the southeastern Chinese seaside city of Xiamen for this year's summit in two months, Xi said preparations for the event are proceeding smoothly.

Xi added that he looks forward to working with other BRICS leaders to ensure that the Xiamen summit will deliver fruitful results, so as to inject fresh impetus into BRICS cooperation, offer new solutions on improving global governance, and make new contributions to global economic growth.

The BRICS leaders agreed that the emerging-market bloc is facing both challenges and opportunities at the moment.

They stressed that the BRICS countries should maintain the sound momentum in their cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas, deepen practical cooperation in all sectors, and boost the unity and influence of the emerging-market bloc.

They also vowed to work together to promote the building of a more just and reasonable world order and achieve positive results at the Xiamen summit.