Episode Details

President Xi Jinping presented a broad vision on Wednesday for BRICS countries to stay committed to peace, innovation, green development, justice and closer people-to-people exchanges, saying that the grouping should serve as a vanguard for advancing global governance reform.

Speaking to other leaders attending the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, the Chinese president called for shared efforts to develop the grouping into "a primary channel for strengthening solidarity and cooperation among Global South nations".

Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the event at the Kazan Expo. The leaders at the summit adopted the Kazan Declaration and outlined the criteria for the category of a BRICS partner country.

"The enlargement of BRICS is a major milestone in its history, and a landmark event in the evolution of the international situation. At this summit, we have decided to invite many countries to become partner countries, which is another major progress in the development of BRICS," Xi told the summit's open plenary session. "We must build on this milestone summit to set off anew and forge ahead with one heart and one mind."

He said that BRICS countries must "all act as defenders of common security".

"Only by embracing the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security can we pave the way for universal security," Xi said.

As for the Ukraine crisis, Xi reiterated the need to uphold the three key principles of no expansion of the battlefields, no escalation of hostilities and no fanning of flames, as well as the need to strive for swift de-escalation of the situation.

Noting the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and the flames of war in Lebanon, Xi made an appeal for promoting an immediate cease-fire and ending the killing in the conflicts.

"We must make unremitting efforts toward a comprehensive, just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian question," he emphasized.

Xi also announced a set of measures to boost the innovation drive among BRICS countries, including steps to establish a BRICS Deep-Sea Resources International Research Center, a China Center for Cooperation on