China expresses optimism on BRICS growth

BEIJING - The BRICS nations will remain a major driving force for global economic growth in the future, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said in Beijing on Monday.

"The BRICS nations will embrace even greater opportunities of growth after the pains of reform," Cheng said at a press conference regarding Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Russia.

Xi will go to Ufa in Russia later this week to attend the seventh leaders meeting of the BRICS, which includes China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

Cheng dismissed the idea that BRICS and other developing countries have dropped behind the pace of global growth, saying the difficulties that the BRICS nations are currently faced with are merely periodical rather than structural.

Cheng said the growth rates of BRICS economies are still at the upper level compared with developed countries.

He said BRICS nations are going through economic restructuring and taking the initiative to readjust their macro-economic policy. BRICS cooperation has begun to show strength as the newly established development bank and emergency reserve arrangement have given fresh impetus to growth.

They will continue to deepen cooperation on trade, investment, finance and business.

At the BRICS summit, the leaders of the five countries will hold a series of meetings to exchange views on cooperation as well as regional and international issues of common concern. The leaders will jointly issue a Ufa Declaration after the summit. They will also hold dialogues with businesses and regional leaders.

Cheng said China expects the Ufa BRICS summit to achieve positive results in four aspects.

First, the countries will jointly develop a BRICS partnership by voicing a uniform stance on major international agendas, including the post-2015 development agenda, climate change talks and IMF reform, so as to lift the status and role of emerging market economies and developing countries in global governance, Cheng said.

BRICS leaders will jointly send positive signals to the world on safeguarding the post-World War II international order, promoting world peace and security and advancing democratization of international relations.

Second, Cheng said, the summit will make progress in putting into operation the new development bank and emergency reserve arrangement. The leaders will draft a blueprint for BRICS trade and economic cooperation in the next few years by passing a "BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy". The strategy is aimed to advance BRICS cooperation toward the general goals of an integrated market, multi-tier communication, land-air-sea inter-connection and culture exchanges. The BRICS countries will strive to develop a community of common interests.

Third, the summit will deepen consensus on such major initiatives as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Cheng said. Promoting inter-connection will not only enrich the content of BRICS cooperation, but also add new impetus to the growth of the world economy.

Fourth, Cheng said the summit will strengthen dialogue and cooperation with other countries in the region. The summit will strengthen all-dimensional exchanges with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Eurasia Economic Union (EEU) in a bid to lift its influence on regional and international affairs.

He said a BRICS mechanism with maturing framework and greater results of cooperation will make an even bigger contribution to peace, stability and prosperity of the world.

"The total economic growth rate of the BRICS countries as a whole is forecast to remain much higher than the global average in the next few years," Cheng said.