Wang Yi, director of China's Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, attended a two-day meeting of the BRICS in Russia's St. Petersburg, on the sidelines of which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other BRICS officials.
The 14th meeting of the BRICS high-ranking officials responsible for security matters and national security advisors, held from Wednesday to Thursday, focused on combating terrorism, cyber-security, and organized crime threats. A Chinese delegation, led by Wang, attended the gathering of the BRICS grouping.
Besides participating in several wide-format BRICS sessions, Wang had a lot of bilateral meetings. One of the most important discussions he had was with Celso Amorim, special advisor to the president of Brazil, on Wednesday.
"For Brazil, China is the biggest market. And of course, I think the BRICS is a new group, which is very important, and whose cohesiveness is essential for a peaceful world," said Amorim.
Putin had a meeting with nine representatives of national security agencies from nine BRICS member countries on the sidelines of the meeting on Thursday. It was a friendly meeting with a lot of smiles, showing that the Russian president was happy that Russia holds the rotating presidency of BRICS this year.
In a speech, Putin gave his assessment of the BRICS achievements during the Russian presidency.
"Today, more than thirty countries, or more precisely, 34 states, have already expressed their desire to join in one form or another in the activities of our association," said Putin.
The Russian president also stated that during the summit in Kazan, which will take place at the end of October in the Russian city of Kazan, a new mechanism would be created for those countries to allow them partner status within the bloc in the future.
After the joint meeting with representatives from nine BRICS countries, Putin had a one-on-one meeting with Wang.
Senior Chinese diplomat attends BRICS meeting, meets Putin, BRICS officials
