Brazilian president hails BRICS mechanism for advancing global economic development

China

Brazilian president hails BRICS mechanism for advancing global economic development

2025-07-06 16:13 Last Updated At：07-07 00:37

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva emphasized the significant contributions of the BRICS cooperation mechanism to global economic development and multilateralism at the opening session of the BRICS Business Forum 2025 on Saturday.

The forum, held in Rio de Janeiro, brought together participants to deliberate on topics including sustainable economic development, food security, energy transition, and digital economy of BRICS countries.

Lula stated that 40 percent of the global GDP is contributed by BRICS countries, with the overall GDP growth of BRICS countries reaching four percent in 2024, significantly exceeding the global average of 3.3 percent.

The Brazilian president said the BRICS mechanism will make more contributions to the world.

"As global protectionism is on the rise, emerging economies should jointly defend the global multilateral trading system and reshape the international financial architecture. The BRICS cooperation mechanism will continue to provide guarantees for a better life for the people," Lula said.

Lula also spoke highly of the significant contribution of the New Development Bank (NDB) to the international financial system.

Five BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- established the NDB in 2014. Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB officially began operations in 2015 to fulfill its mission of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS member nations, as well as other emerging-market economies and developing countries.

The 17th BRICS Summit is being held Sunday and Monday in Rio de Janeiro. As the rotating chair of the bloc, Brazil is hosting the summit under the banner of "Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance".

China's top legislator holds talks with speaker of Czech Chamber of Deputies

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with Tomio Okamura, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, in Beijing on Thursday.

Noting that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Czech strategic partnership, Zhao, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China stands ready to work with the Czech side to carry forward traditional friendship, enhance mutual understanding and trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and promote the sound and steady growth of bilateral relations.

Zhao called on both sides to consolidate the political foundation of their ties, sustain the momentum of improvement in bilateral relations, and resume and step up exchanges and interactions at all levels and across all fields.

Both sides should further tap cooperation potential, give full play to the role of mechanisms such as the economic joint committee between China and Czech and the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Expo, explore ways to strengthen cooperation in new energy, electric vehicles and other fields, and support enterprises of the two countries in expanding investment cooperation, Zhao added.

The NPC is ready to enhance friendly exchanges with the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, carry out mutual learning and exchanges on legislative supervision, economic development, improvement of people's livelihood, formulate, revise and ratify legal documents conducive to bilateral cooperation, and maintain close communication and collaboration within multilateral mechanisms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Zhao said.

Zhao also said China is willing to work with all countries, including the Czech Republic, to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and promote the establishment of a fair and equitable global governance system for AI.

Okamura said the Czech Republic adheres to the one-China policy, adding that it hopes to strengthen tourism cooperation with China and welcome more Chinese tourists to visit the Czech Republic, expand cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, cultural relic exhibitions, and direct flights, and enhance people-to-people exchanges.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic stands ready to strengthen friendly exchanges with China's NPC and enhance the friendship between the two peoples, Okamura added.