Xi to attend BRICS summit in S Africa

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend next week’s summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg, to be followed by a state visit to South Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his

August 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.

China is a core member of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and India.

The grouping was predicated on linking the interests of the world’s

leading emerging economies but has sought to expand into other civil and governmental fields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the summit because of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for him, according to South African authorities.

The development could be viewed as embarrassing for Putin, who is expected to be the only leader of a country in the bloc not to attend.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin “has decided to take part” in the summit via video link, without confirming if he had intended to attend in person.