BRICS have sound basics for growth: China
July 8, 2014, 2:07 am

At the 5th BRICS Summit in Durban, Putin likened the group of 5 to Africa’s “Big Five” game beasts of trophy hunting lore – the lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros [GCIS]

The 6^th BRICS Summit will be held in the Brazilian cities of Fortaleza and Brasilia from 14^th-16^th July. 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.

South American leaders have been invited to participate in the Summit this year. Leaders from the African Union were asked to attend last year’s gathering in Durban to consolidate BRICS’ ties with the African markets.

Li said China welcomes “expanded connection between the markets of BRICS and South America”.

“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.

“Speaking in one voice, BRICS should put forward uniform solutions to improve global economic governance,” Li told a press briefing on Monday.

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

With the “tapering” of the $85bn-a-month bond purchases with which the US Federal Reserve is supporting the US economy, there has been a marked slowdown in the BRICS economies.

The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister however said the slowdown in BRICS is essentially different from the financial crisis that hit Western countries.

“BRICS economies enjoy sound basics, abundant policy tools and great growth potential. Nearly $100 billion 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 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.

BRICS cooperation, has, however, not been 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.

Source: Agencies