CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING TO MAKE STATE VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA, ATTEND BRICS SUMMIT

Next week, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to South Africa and attend the BRICS summit there.

“At the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and pay a state visit to South Africa from August 21 to 24,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in an online statement.

The five BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet in Johannesburg next week to discuss how to turn a loose club of nations accounting for a quarter of the global economy into a geopolitical force that can challenge the developed world’s dominance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will take part by video rather than attending in person.

A total of 69 countries have been invited to the summit in South Africa, including all African states, and expansion is expected to be high on the agenda. Countries including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Ethiopia have shown interest in joining the group either formally or informally.

China, seeking to expand its geopolitical influence amid its ongoing rivalry with the United States, has said it “welcomes more like-minded partners to join the ‘BRICS family’ at an early date”.

Russia also supports expansion, while Brazil has resisted, fearing it could undermine the group’s stature. India is on the fence.

In 2001, a Goldman Sachs economist coined the phrase BRIC to describe the rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These countries held their first meeting in Russia in 2009, and when South Africa joined the following year, the organization was dubbed BRICS.

The BRICS countries account for more than 40% of the world’s population and approximately 26% of the global economy.

In addition to the BRICS conference, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.