BRICS vital for trade growth, currency integration: Egyptian FM

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Thursday said that BRICS is a vital platform to expand trade and promote local‑currency transactions, pledging Egypt’s continued push to deepen cooperation within the bloc.

At a press conference in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, Abdelatty stressed the importance of increasing trade volume and using local currencies in transactions to strengthen trade among member countries.

"BRICS for us is an extremely important economic platform and it's very important to enhance trade volume, to use local currencies in transactions to enhance trade among the BRICS countries. And of course we have a development bank which is not applying any conditionality, and that's very, very important. And so we will continue our efforts in order to enhance cooperation within BRICS members and as well as not using BRICS as a tool within the current polarization in the global system, this is very important," he said.

On cooperation with China, Abdelatty said Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent state visit to Egypt was highly significant as it marked Xi's first state visit to the country in a decade and coincided with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He said Egypt is advancing the next phase of the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone and will work to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, including promoting the localization of key industries such as electric vehicles.

"We will continue to enhance our cooperation with China based on mutual interest, mutual respect and noninterference in the internal affairs of any country. And of course, we will enhance our trade volume, as well as investment and localization, especially in key areas like automotive, including electric cars, also the localization of the different industries when it comes to renewable energy, solar panels, turbine towers, blades, those are of great importance," he said.

BRICS vital for trade growth, currency integration: Egyptian FM

As temperatures continue to fall in Mohe, China's northernmost city, with the mercury dropping below zero degrees Celsius, local authorities have started the heating season 13 days ahead of schedule to keep residents warm.

Heating services in Mohe officially began on Saturday, with all heating units put into operation.

Workers at a local heating company are closely monitoring and adjusting boiler operations to ensure stable heat supplies.

Local heating suppliers completed preparations by the end of August, including the inspection and maintenance of heating pipelines and equipment, as well as coal stockpiling, in anticipation of an early cold snap.

"We have conducted comprehensive inspections and maintenance of the heat source, heat exchange stations and heating pipelines during this summer. Next, we will gradually increase heating intensity according to temperature changes to ensure that residents stay warm through the winter," said Shi Junhao, workshop director of a local heating company.

Located at the northernmost tip of China, Mohe has a long and extremely cold winter, with its lowest recorded temperature reaching minus 53 degrees Celsius. It is one of the regions in China where the heating season starts the earliest and lasts the longest.

This year's heating season in Mohe is expected to last for more than eight months, continuing until mid-May next year.

China's northernmost city starts heating season early amid falling temperature