President Xi Jinping Delivers an Important Speech

On the morning of August 23 local time, the 15th meeting of BRICS leaders was held at the Sugido Conference Center in Johannesburg. South African President Ramaphosa presided over the meeting. People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula, Indian Prime Minister Modi, and Russian President Putin (online) attended. President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech titled "Seeking Development Through Solidarity and Cooperation and Shouldering Our Responsibility for Peace". Photographed by Li Xueren, a journalist from Xinhua News Agency

Xinhua News Agency, Johannesburg, August 23 (Reporter Ni Siyi, Ying Qiang Lu Xiangming) On the morning of August 23 local time, the 15th meeting of BRICS leaders was held at the Sugido Conference Center in Johannesburg. South African President Ramaphosa presided over the meeting. People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula, Indian Prime Minister Modi, and Russian President Putin (online) attended. Leaders of the five countries exchanged in-depth views and reached broad consensus on BRICS cooperation and major international issues of common concern around the theme of "BRICS and Africa: Deepening Partnership, Promoting Mutual Growth, Achieving Sustainable Development, and Strengthening Inclusive Multilateralism".

President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech titled "Unity and Cooperation for Development, Brave Responsibility for Peace".

On the morning of August 23 local time, the 15th meeting of BRICS leaders was held at the Sugido Conference Center in Johannesburg. South African President Ramaphosa presided over the meeting. People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula, Indian Prime Minister Modi, and Russian President Putin (online) attended. This is a group photo of the leaders of the five countries during the meeting. Photographed by Li Xueren, a journalist from Xinhua News Agency

President Xi Jinping pointed out that the world is currently entering a new period of turbulence and transformation, undergoing major adjustments, divisions, and reorganizations. The BRICS countries are an important force in shaping the international landscape. We independently choose the path of development, jointly defend the right to development, and jointly move towards modernization, which represents the direction of human society and will deeply affect the world's development process. Looking back on history, we have always upheld the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, continuously pushing BRICS cooperation to a new level and assisting the development of the five countries; Always uphold international fairness and justice, uphold fairness and justice in major international and regional issues, and enhance the voice and influence of emerging market countries and developing countries. The BRICS countries have always been advocates and practitioners of independent foreign policies, insisting on starting from the rights and wrongs of the matter itself on major international issues, speaking impartially and in a fair manner, not trading based on principles, not succumbing to external pressure, and not being a vassal of other countries. The BRICS countries have broad consensus and common goals, and no matter how the international situation changes, the original intention and common aspirations of cooperation will not change.

President Xi Jinping emphasized that BRICS cooperation is at a critical stage of connecting the past and opening up the future. We need to grasp the overall trend, lead the way, adhere to the original intention of unity and self-improvement, strengthen cooperation in various fields, promote high-quality partnerships, and promote global governance reform towards a more just and reasonable direction, injecting more certainty, stability, and positive energy into the world.

We need to deepen economic, trade, and financial cooperation to support economic development. Development is an inalienable right of all countries, not a "patent" of a few countries. The BRICS countries should be peers on the path of development and revitalization, and oppose "decoupling and chain breaking" and economic coercion. We need to focus on practical cooperation, especially in areas such as the digital economy, green development, and supply chain. China will establish the "China BRICS New Era Science and Technology Innovation Incubation Park" and explore the establishment of the "BRICS Global Remote Sensing Satellite Data and Application Cooperation Platform" to provide data support for the development of agriculture, ecology, disaster reduction and other fields in various countries. China is willing to work with all parties to jointly establish the "BRICS Sustainable Industry Exchange and Cooperation Mechanism", providing an industry docking and project cooperation platform for implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We need to expand political and security cooperation and maintain peace and tranquility. People of all countries look forward to a good security environment. International security is indivisible, sacrificing the interests of other countries and seeking absolute security for oneself will ultimately harm oneself. The BRICS countries should adhere to the overall direction of peaceful development, support each other on issues related to each other's core interests, strengthen coordination on major international and regional issues, actively mediate hot issues, promote political solutions, and cool down hot issues. We need to further expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, strengthen information exchange and technological cooperation, jointly prevent risks, promote the establishment of a universal international mechanism, form a governance framework and standard specifications with broad consensus, and continuously improve the security, reliability, controllability, and fairness of artificial intelligence technology.

We need to strengthen cultural exchanges and promote mutual learning among civilizations. The diverse civilizations and diverse development paths are what the world should look like. Human history will not end in one civilization or one system. The BRICS countries should promote the spirit of embracing all rivers and seas, advocate for peaceful coexistence and harmonious coexistence of different civilizations, respect the modernization path chosen by each country, and oppose ideological opposition, institutional confrontation, and "clash of civilizations". China suggests that BRICS countries expand cooperation in the field of education, play a good role in vocational education alliances, explore the establishment of digital education cooperation mechanisms, and strengthen traditional cultural exchanges to promote the inheritance and innovation of excellent traditional culture.

We must adhere to fairness and justice, and improve global governance. Strengthening global governance is the right choice for the international community to share development opportunities and respond to global challenges. International rules should be written and upheld by everyone in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It is not allowed that anyone with thick arms and loud voice should have the the final say, let alone form a gang, and package their own "family law and gang rules" into international rules. The BRICS countries should practice true multilateralism, maintain the international system with the United Nations at its core, support and strengthen the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, and oppose the establishment of "small circles" and "small groups". We need to fully leverage the role of the New Development Bank, promote the reform of the international financial and monetary system, and enhance the representation and voice of developing countries. We must uphold the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, make good use of the "BRICS+" cooperation, accelerate the process of expansion, and allow more countries to join the BRICS family. We should pool our wisdom and efforts to promote global governance towards a more just and reasonable direction.

President Xi Jinping finally emphasized that the BRICS cause upholds international morality, benefits the people of the five countries, and will surely achieve stability and progress, making greater contributions to promoting world peace and development. China is willing to work with its BRICS partners to uphold the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, strengthen strategic partnerships, deepen cooperation in various fields, respond to common challenges with BRICS responsibilities, create a better future with BRICS responsibilities, and jointly sail towards modernization!

Ramafosa, Lula, Putin, and Modi highly praised the positive progress made by the BRICS cooperation mechanism. All parties believe that emerging market countries and developing countries face increasingly serious challenges such as poverty, inequality, and unfairness due to geopolitical conflicts and global economic difficulties, and there is a long way to go to achieve sustainable development goals. The BRICS countries are committed to deepening strategic partnerships and promoting global peace, stability, and equitable development. More than 20 countries have applied to join the BRICS, fully demonstrating the vitality, attractiveness, and strategic value of the BRICS cooperation mechanism in international affairs. The BRICS countries should strengthen unity, continue to uphold the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, accelerate the process of expanding BRICS membership, promote the transformation of the global governance system towards a more inclusive, fair, and reasonable direction, revitalize and reform the multilateral system, promote the process of world multipolarization, and make it more in line with the interests of developing countries representing the majority of the world's people. The BRICS countries should support each other on issues related to their core interests and respect each country's independent choice of a modernization path that is in line with their own national conditions. The international financial system should not become a tool for geopolitical competition, but should accelerate the reform of the international financial and monetary system, improve the representation and voice of emerging market countries and developing countries, promote sustainable development and inclusive growth, and benefit the five countries and the people of developing countries.

During the meeting, the leaders of the five countries also listened to the work reports of the heads of relevant mechanisms of the BRICS countries and took collective photos.

Cai Qi, Wang Yi, and others participated in the above activities.