Shenzhen TV: The BRICS Business Forum opened on June 22 and President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. Can you tell us more about it?

Wang Wenbin: The 2022 BRICS Business Forum was held in an online plus offline format in Beijing on June 22. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum in virtual format and delivered a keynote speech. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended and addressed the opening ceremony. You may refer to the readout that we have released. 

BRICS is an important platform for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries, and BRICS countries have become engines driving world economic recovery and growth. This year is the BRICS China Year. Thanks to the active support of all sides, China, as the BRICS chair this year, has successfully held over 90 meetings and events at various levels so far this year, covering political, security, economic, trade, financial, people-to-people and cultural fields as well as sustainable development and public health. These activities have enabled important progress in BRICS cooperation in various sectors. This week is indeed the BRICS Week, with the hosting of a series of BRICS events including the BRICS Business Forum, the 14th BRICS Summit and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development. These three important events will pool wide consensus on BRICS cooperation and inject strong impetus into the recovery of world economy.

Right now, our world is facing drastic changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century. Various security challenges keep emerging. The world economy still faces strong headwinds on its path toward recovery, and global development has suffered major setbacks. The world is confronted with important choices between peace and war, progress and regression, openness and isolation, and cooperation and confrontation. President Xi noted in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum that we should embrace solidarity and coordination and jointly maintain world peace and stability; we should reach out to each other and jointly promote sustainable global development; we should tide over difficulties together and jointly pursue win-win cooperation; and we should be inclusive and jointly expand openness and integration. It is hoped that business leaders will continue to champion open, innovative and shared development so as to add new impetus to BRICS cooperation and see that more benefits of development will reach everyone in a more equitable way. 

President Xi’s speech gave an insightful answer to “where the world is headed” -- an important question of our times. The speech aims to bring confidence and strength to a volatile and unstable world and is warmly received by participants. Participants said the speech is rich in content and inspiring. It charts the course for deepening practical BRICS cooperation, points the way forward for upholding world security and stability, and paints the blueprint for promoting global openness and development. The speech enhances parties’ confidence in China’s economic prospect and sets the right direction for businesses to participate in and support BRICS cooperation. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked President Xi Jinping and the Chinese side for the extensive preparation for hosting this business forum. They said that with the world focusing on post-pandemic recovery, the role of BRICS countries is further elevated. Fostering high-quality BRICS partnership is particularly important fort advancing global development in the new era. BRICS countries will continue to deepen cooperation in economic integration, do their utmost to reduce the impact of poverty and food and energy crisis on people’s livelihood, and promote sustainable and inclusive development.

During the Forum, participants had panel discussions on world economic recovery, green transformation, digital economy, health cooperation and resilience of industrial and supply chains. They also released the Beijing Initiative of BRICS Business Community. 

Today, the 14th BRICS Summit will be held. We believe that with the concerted efforts of all parties, the Summit will be a full success. It will elevate BRICS cooperation to a higher level and make greater contribution to world peace and development. 

(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China)