Xi calls for united response by BRICS

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for a unified response by the BRICS countries to trade challenges posed by the US, saying that Washington’s tariff wars severely disrupted the world economy and undermined international trade rules.

Speaking via a video link to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders’ meeting convened by Brazilian President Lula De Silva, Xi said, “as we speak, transformation unseen in a century is accelerating across the world”. “Hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism are getting more and more rampant. Trade wars and tariff wars waged by some country severely disrupt the world economy and undermine international trade rules,” he said, without directly naming the US or its President Donald Trump, whose steep tariffs against India, Brazil, China and Russia caused turmoil in the emerging economies.

“At this critical juncture, BRICS countries, standing at the forefront of the Global South, should act on the BRICS Spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, jointly defend multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, advance greater BRICS cooperation,” Xi said in his speech released by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. “We should uphold multilateralism to defend international fairness and justice... It provides an important underpinning for world peace and development.”

Also, BRICS countries should actively promote greater democracy in international relations and increase the representation and voice of the Global South countries, he said.