BRICS News

Lavrov said that all efforts must be exerted by all parties in Syria to destroy the Islamic State [Xinhua]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he expects closer cooperation with the US to destroy terror groups in Syria.
“It is precisely from the anti-terror position that we expect to establish close interaction on Syria – much more effective with the administration of [US President] Donald Trump, considering his absolutely definite approaches to terrorism as an absolute evil,” Lavrov told the Russian news agency TASS on Monday.

North Korea previously conducted three nuclear tests: in 2006, in 2009 and in 2013. In response, the United Nations Security Council imposed various sanctions on Pyongyang [Xinhua]
China on Monday expressed its frustration with the North Korean leadership and condemned Pyongyang’s latest missile launch, which it said clearly violated UN Security Council resolutions.
But Beijing also called for calm and urged Japan, South Korea and the US not to take any actions that could exacerbate the situation.

Putin wants to strengthe ties and security cooperation with Germany [PPIO]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited German President-elect Fank-Walter Steinmeier to visit Moscow soon.
In a congratulatory cable a few hours after Steinmeier was elected, Putin said he hoped for strengthening of ties with Europe’s strongest economy.

World powers accuse North Korea of pursuing a nuclear and ballistic weapons program in violation of UN sanctions [Xinhua]
Reactions to North Korea’s test firing of a ballistic missile into the sea early Sunday has come quick and hard.
US President Donald Trump and visiting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a joint press conference to condemn Pyongyang’s missile test.
“Absolutely intolerable,” Abe said of the test as he demanded that North Korea comply with a number of UN Security Council resolutions.

Erdogan wants to link China’s One Belt, One Road trade initiative with Turkey’s “Middle Corridor” project [Xinhua]
China and Turkey on Sunday finalized an underground gas storage project located in Turkey’s Salt Lake area.
The one billion cubic meter facility is Turkey’s first such storage capacity and is designed to alleviate the country’s gas shortages.
The project is seen as part of China’s enhanced cooperation with Turkey, which Beijing views as a crucial partner in the Silk Road Economic Belt trade and economic partnership initiative.

China’s foreign investments are up and its exports have risen year on year in January 2017 [Xinhua]China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Friday reported that exports in January surged 7.9 per cent year on year, beating forecasts and suggesting the economy may be steadily back on track.
The preliminary figures mark a reversal of December’s downward trend when the GAC reported that exports had fallen 6.1 per cent.
The GAC says that the surge is the greatest in two years. In dollar terms, it says, Chinese exports to the US grew by 9 per cent.

Zuma’s ANC rejected calls by the opposition to remove the president in November’s no confidence vote [Xinhua]
The 25 Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party were evicted from the South African Parliament on Thursday after they had delayed the State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Jacob Zuma by 78 minutes.

Trump had earlier cast doubt that he would adhere to the One-China policy but during his call to Xi he promised to do just that [Xinhua]
US President Donald Trump told his Chinese counterpart during a phone call on Friday that he would work toward a constructive China-US relationship and that he would honor the existing One-China Policy that has shaped tied between the two countries.

The BRICS 9th Summit, which is scheduled to be held in the resort city of Xiamen in east China’s Fujian Province in September, will focus on strengthening global governance, Chinese media reported today.
According to the Xinhua news agency, the summit will be under the theme “BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future” and look to complete the initiatives started at the Goa Summit last year.

South African President Jacob Zuma, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Michel Temer at the BRICS Summit in Goa, India on 16 October 2016 [Image: BRICS2016]
During a question-and-answer session on Facebook Live, India’s Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said that countries should carry out reforms and spending policies which benefit the people independently of assessments by the major ratings agencies.