Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement that during his Aug. 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the Africa-China Leaders’ Dialogue with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa.
The original intent of the BRICS, whose members are Brazil, China, Russia, India and South Africa, was to link the interests of the world’s major emerging economies, but it has since spread to other civil and political areas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the summit because the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against him, according to South African authorities.
This fact could be considered an embarrassment for Putin, foreseeably the only one of the presidents of the bloc who will be absent. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin “has resolved to participate” in the summit via video link, without confirming whether his original intention was to attend in person.
The BRICS summit, the first face-to-face since 2019, seeks to give the bloc new relevance amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the collapse of the South African economy and growing competition between Asian giants China and India.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he supports the entry of new countries and plans to discuss it at the summit.
Some twenty countries have submitted their formal application for membership, indicated Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, after statements by Lula, who more than once has criticized the international structure dominated by Western powers. Applicants include Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Venezuela, Vieira said.
Faced with the isolation to which the United States and the European Union submit them, China and Russia are trying to expand their influence among developing countries. Beijing has done this in part through the New Development Bank, known as the BRICS Bank, which finances infrastructure projects in Brazil and other developing countries.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
