Speaking at the opening ceremony of the meeting of presidents from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), Chinese President Xi Jinping said: "We should be resolute in rejecting unilateralism. Unilateralism and protectionism are on the ascendancy, dealing a severe blow to multilateralism,” Xi said, adding that his country will sustain development “with its door wide open.”
The rise of emerging markets and developing nations cannot be stopped, and it will strike more balance to international development, the Chinese president noted, asking the BRICS governments to comply with international rules.
The announcement came in the wake of the tariff threats by US President Donald Trump, prompting the BRICS countries to boost their trade cooperation at a three-day summit for the trade bloc in Johannesburg.
The meeting between the BRICS leaders is the first since the United States pushed to rebalance trade multilateralism, which was deemed unfair by President Trump and previously championed by Washington.
