Xi urges BRICS, Sino-India co-op

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Tuesday that cooperation among BRICS countries will help make the global economy more balanced, improve global economic governance and promote democracy in international relations.

In a joint interview with Xinhua and media outlets from BRICS countries ahead of his first state trip abroad, Xi said a great number of emerging markets and developing countries, including the BRICS, have become an important force for world peace and common development and played an important role in tackling the international financial crisis and boosting global economic growth.

Therefore, the global economic governance system must reflect the profound changes in the global economic landscape, and the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries should be raised, Xi said.

Citing the quota reforms in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Xi said these are important steps in moving forward reform of the global economic governance in the right direction.

Emerging markets and developing countries hope to see an improved global economic governance that better meets the needs of global productivity growth and facilitates common development of all countries, Xi added.

The newly-elected president of China is scheduled to visit Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo on March 22-30 and attend the fifth BRICS summit on March 26-27 in Durban, South Africa.

The BRICS groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

On the upcoming Durban summit, Xi expressed the hope that through the meeting, BRICS countries will deepen partnership, improve cooperation mechanism and strengthen dialogue and cooperation in various areas, sending to the international community a positive message of unity, cooperation and win-win results.

Meanwhile, Xi highlighted the BRICS Leaders - Africa Dialogue Forum that will be held during the Durban meeting. He said China supports BRICS countries in increasing dialogue and exchanges with Africa to foster partnership, safeguard common interests and realize common development.

On Sino-Indian ties, Xi said, to jointly follow a path of peaceful development and development through cooperation not only meets the common interests of China and India, the two largest developing countries in the world, but also does a great service to Asia and the world at large.

Speaking highly of the important headway in bilateral ties in recent years thanks to concerted efforts of the two sides, Xi urged both countries that are pursuing development at a faster pace to seize the opportunities and take solid steps to bolster cooperation and exchanges in all fields, accommodate each other's core concerns and properly handle their problems and differences.

On the boundary problem, Xi said it is a complex issue left from history, and solving the issue won't be easy. But he said he believes "as long as we keep up our friendly consultations, we can eventually arrive at a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement."

"Pending the final settlement of the boundary question, the two sides should work together to maintain peace and tranquility in border areas and prevent the boundary question from affecting the overall development of bilateral relations," the president added.