China: Forum urges greater BRICS cooperation

The forum called for multi-pronged cooperation between BRICS countries ahead of the annual summit in Xiamen in September [Xinhua]
Fuzhou, the capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province, today played host to more than 400 economic, political and social representatives from BRICS meetings who are meeting to boost cooperation.
The BRICS representatives are looking for ways to come up with projects and proposals that will facilitate in-depth joint initiatives which will be endorsed at the Ninth BRICS Summit in neighboring Xiamen city in September.
Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Yunshan addressed the opening ceremony of the forum and hailed China’s ability to host numerous international conferences, with particular emphasis on the upcoming Summit and the recently held One Belt One Road Economic Summit.
He also praised BRICS for the progress Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have achieved as influential emerging markets who account for some of the world’s fastest growing economies.
In its annual report last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that two BRICS countries – China and India – lead the world in terms of economic growth.
“We hope this forum will pool more wisdom and efforts for the Xiamen summit and future BRICS cooperation,” Liu said.
The forum concluded with the 400 representatives endorsing the Fuzhou Initiative in which they vowed to “intensify policy communication, expand cooperation, and work more with other emerging markets and developing countries” according to local media reports.
The forum also called on NGOs from BRICS to work harder toward reducing poverty and focusing on health and environmental protection.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies