China FM to attend BRICS meeting in Russia next week: ministry
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) June 7, 2024

China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Russia next week for a gathering of counterparts from the BRICS group of emerging economies, Beijing said Friday.

Wang will meet with other foreign ministers for talks "on issues of common concern such as BRICS cooperation and current and regional situations", Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

Mao said that BRICS was "an important platform for cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries", and that members "have always been committed to safeguarding multilateralism".

The meeting takes place on Monday and Tuesday in western Russia's Nizhny Novgorod.

China is willing to work "to consolidate the BRICS strategic relations, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, (and) promote shared development and joint self-reliance in the global South", Mao said.

The bloc -- its name derived from the initials of founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- announced last year a major expansion in membership, described at the time by Chinese President Xi Jinping as "historic".

Relations between China and host country Russia have strengthened economically and politically since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a move that Beijing has never condemned, to the consternation of the West.

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