Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the expansion of BRICS will inject new vitality into the group’s cooperation mechanism.
The BRICS group of nations reached a broad consensus to invite six countries – Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to join, in a move to incrrease the clout of a bloc that has pledged to champion the “Global South”.
It’s a historic expansion, which reflects the determination of BRICS countries to unite and cooperate with other developing countries, Xi said at the group’s leaders’ summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg.
“This expansion meets the expectations of the international community and serves the common interests of emerging markets and developing countries.”
China “was, is, and will always be a member of the developing world”, Xi said.
He announced that Chinese financial institutions will soon launch a $10-billion special fund to implement the Global Development Initiative (GDI), a programme China launched in 2021 to promote economic and social development.
Xi’s proposal for the GDI was to foster cooperation for a more balanced, coordinated and inclusive global development in areas including poverty alleviation, food security and development financing.