Xi says China seeks fairer and fairer international order and opposes “bloc confrontation.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an expansion of the BRICS group of emerging economies to build a fairer and fairer international order, stressing that “hegemonism is not in China’s DNA”.
Speaking on his behalf at the start of Tuesday’s BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Xi said China has no desire to engage in great-power competition or engage in a “bloc confrontation.”
“China stands firmly on the right side of history and believes that a just cause should be pursued for the common good,” Xi said at an economic forum, according to remarks by Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
Xi said the BRICS would continue to grow “no matter what resistance there might be.”
“Right now, changes are happening in the world, in our time and in history in ways never before seen, bringing human society to a critical juncture,” he said.
(Al Jazeera)
It was not clear why Xi did not attend the event, which was attended by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier, Xi met the summit’s host, Ramaphosa, and told his counterpart that their countries are at a “new historical starting point.”
China and Russia, both heavily sanctioned by the United States, have sought to expand the BRICS to counter Western dominance over international institutions and affairs.
Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran, Argentina and Egypt are among the countries that have expressed interest in joining the bloc – currently made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which has about 40 percent of the world’s population and more than 30 percent of the world’s population accounts for 25 percent of the world economy.
The grouping is a dividend for expansion, however, as Brazil and India are widely viewed as more ambivalent about expanding the bloc.
In a possible sign of different visions for the bloc, Brazilian Lula said the BRICS were not trying to be a “counterpoint to the G7, G20 or the United States”.
“We just want to get organized,” Lula said during a social media broadcast.
In addition to expanding membership, the summit will also discuss ways to encourage the use of local currencies in trade and financial transactions to reduce dependence on the US dollar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is not attending the summit in person, said in a pre-recorded statement that the de-dollarization of the bloc’s economic times was “irreversible” and gaining momentum.
Russia’s economy has been hit by sweeping Western sanctions imposed in response to Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Putin, for whom there is an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, will be represented at the BRICS summit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
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