China supports expansion of BRICS grouping with ‘like-minded partners’

by Press Trust of IndiaChina said on Thursday that Beijing views BRICS as an “open and inclusive” forum and has withdrawn from it. expand five-member group With “like-minded partners”.

Asked at a media briefing here about reports that India wants an agreement on the process of expansion of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that He has not seen the report. But “in principle, China always believes that BRICS is open and inclusive”.

read | Jaishankar meets Russian counterpart Lavrov in South Africa

“We support BRICS expansion and welcome more like-minded partners to join the BRICS family,” she said.

As the BRICS countries propose to hold the next summit in South Africa in August this year, media reports say that several countries have shown interest in joining the emerging market grouping.

As per reports, 19 countries – Argentina, Nicaragua, Mexico, Uruguay, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh — has shown interest in joining the BRICS grouping.

BRICS brings together the world’s five largest developing countries, representing 41 percent of the global population, 24 percent of global GDP and 16 percent of global trade.