Global General

BRICS nations seek joint stance

By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-03 09:02

BEIJING - Leaders from the five top emerging economies will coordinate their stance on economic issues including fluctuations in commodity prices during a forthcoming bloc summit slated for mid-April, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Saturday.

The "BRICS" summit, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao, and attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma, in the beach resort of Sanya in the southern island province of Hainan.

Related readings:  Chinese president to chair BRICS summit  BRICS cooperation is open and inclusive: FM

Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Hailong told a news conference that the Sanya summit would focus on key issues including the current world situation, global economic and financial issues, development issues and future cooperation among BRICS members.

"We hope all sides can strengthen coordination and mutual cooperation on reform of the international currency system, commodity-price fluctuations, climate change and sustainable development," said Wu, who also stressed that China hoped the summit would be able to coordinate views on commodity-price fluctuations ahead of the G20 summit in France this year.

"This is a topic at the G20 summit in Cannes," Wu said. "We hope that the leaders of the five countries can have a joint stance on this issue and reach broad consensus."

Rising commodity prices and imported inflation due to US quantitative easing have forced these countries to tighten monetary policies.

The BRICS group has emerged as a united economic bloc in recent years that plays an increasingly important role in the world economy.

According to research by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, the combined output of BRICS nations will grow from 17 percent of global gross domestic product in 2010 to a whopping 47 percent in 2030.