Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are now gathering in Johannesburg, the “Place of Gold” in South Africa, for the three-day-long 10th BRICS summit starting on July 25, in a hope to discuss on the future of BRICS cooperation and draw a blueprint for its another “golden decade”.

China’s role in promoting BRICS cooperation is highly anticipated. On July 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech delivered to the BRICS Business Forum, shared his thoughts on the changes the world is going to witness in the next decade and charted the course for the second Golden Decade of BRICS cooperation.

BRICS countries should pursue win-win cooperation to build an open economy, pursue innovation and seize development opportunities, pursue inclusive growth to deliver benefits to people of all countries, and uphold multilateralism and improve global governance in the decade to come, Xi said. 

Xi’s words were highly appreciated and applauded by delegates from BRICS countries. 

President Xi’s remarks are deep in thought and heart-touching, said BLN Sarma, Deputy General Manager of Jindal Africa Investments (Pty) Limited.

“President Xi has sensed the trend of the new technological revolution and industrial transformation, as well as the bright future of African continent,” he said, saying it is inspiring to see China committed to safeguarding an open trading system.

As trade protectionism and unilateralism are mounting, the world looks forward to hearing the voices of emerging markets and developing countries represented by BRICS countries, said BRICS Business Council chairman Iqbal Survé.

Chinese voices and proposals are of paramount importance because the country is an important force dedicated to maintaining rule-based free trade, he pointed out. 

China’s proposition remains unchanged, and its stance has grown firmer from the BRICS summit held in Xiamen last year to this one in Johannesburg. At this summit, the world will see more clearly the significance of the Xiamen summit in building on past successes to advance the future undertakings, and further understand China’s leading role in BRICS cooperation.

At the BRICS Xiamen summit, President Xi comprehensively reviewed the outstanding achievements the BRICS countries made in the past decade, and announced to usher in the second “Golden Decade” of BRICS cooperation, depicting the new vision of the cooperation. 

Over the past year, the BRICS countries have actively implemented the BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration and made new progress in pragmatic cooperation in various fields, demonstrating strong vitality for cooperation. 

The Johannesburg summit carries on the good momentum for cooperation eyed at the Xiamen summit. Its theme “BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution” shares the same philosophy with BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation advocated by Xi.

The theme is also in line with China’s proposal of seizing the development opportunities brought by the new industrial revolution and promoting growth and transformation through innovation. 

President Xi chaired the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries last year. His proposals that the BRICS should continuously expand the circle of friends with the “BRICS plus” model, and work more closely to build extensive development partnerships aroused wide attention and were welcomed by the international community. 

This year, the Johannesburg summit also invites leaders of African countries to have dialogues with leaders of BRICS countries and holds the “BRICS plus” dialogue.

The Xiamen summit affirmed people-to-people exchanges as the third pillar of BRICS cooperation together with intensified cooperation in traditional economic, political and security fields.

The three drivers have supported each other and marched forward together, making the framework more comprehensive and balanced. 

This year, South Africa hosted the South Africa and China Women’s Forum and the BRICS Young Diplomats Forum, further consolidating the public support for BRICS cooperation and renewing the achievements of the Xiamen summit.

The BRICS Summit has now become a focus of the international community. Jim O’Neill, who invented the concept of BRIC, said the performance of the BRICS countries, individually or as a whole, is beyond expectation, adding that China’s economic development has played a leading role in achieving this result. 

The world expects more benefits brought by the BRICS cooperation. China, together with other BRICS countries, will continue helping the second decade of BRICS cooperation go faster, steadier and further.