Xi's time in Kazan highlights greater BRICS cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, for the 16th BRICS Summit from Tuesday to Thursday, where he also had in-depth exchanges with world leaders on BRICS cooperation, bilateral relations and the current international situation, demonstrating the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation.

Xi flew in on Tuesday to attend the event at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a small-group meeting on Wednesday, Xi pointed out that the enlargement of BRICS is a major milestone in its development, and a landmark event in the evolution of the international situation.

"It is for our shared pursuit and for the overarching trend of peace and development that we BRICS countries have come together. We must work together to build BRICS into a primary channel for strengthening solidarity and cooperation among Global South nations and a vanguard for advancing global governance reform," Xi said.

He stressed that the more turbulent the world is, the more BRICS countries should uphold the banner of peace, development and win-win cooperation, refining the essence of BRICS and demonstrating its strength.

BRICS countries should raise the voice of peace, advocating a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation and partnership over alliance, Xi said.

The Chinese president then attended a large-group meeting, where he made important statements on the future development of BRICS and put forward five suggestions.

Xi stressed that, as the world enters a new period defined by turbulence and transformation, pivotal choices lies ahead for BRICS members: allow the world to descend into the abyss of disorder and chaos, or steer it back on the path of peace and development?

"The more tumultuous our times become, the more we must stand firm at the forefront, exhibiting tenacity, demonstrating the audacity to pioneer and displaying the wisdom to adapt, so as to open a new horizon in the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation," Xi said.

He called on the BRICS members to: build a BRICS committed to peace and act as defenders of common security; build a BRICS committed to innovation and act as pioneers of high-quality development; build a BRICS committed to green development and act as promoters of sustainable development; build a BRICS committed to justice and act as forerunners in reforming global governance, and build a BRICS committed to closer people-to-people exchanges and that advocates for harmonious coexistence among all civilizations.

During his time in Kazan, Xi had in-depth bilateral exchanges with world leaders, including general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president Thongloun Sisoulith, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

During the "BRICS Plus" leaders' dialogue held on Thursday, Xi called on "BRICS Plus" countries to strive for common security, common development and harmony among civilizations.

Noting that the collective rise of the Global South is a distinctive feature of the great transformation across the world, Xi said that Global South countries marching together toward modernization is monumental in world history and unprecedented in human civilization.

However, he pointed out that peace and development still face severe challenges and the road to prosperity for the Global South will not be straight forward, urging "BRICS Plus" countries to use their collective wisdom and strength and stand up to their responsibilities in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi said that "BRICS Plus" countries should uphold peace and strive for common security, reinvigorate development and strive for common prosperity, and together promote the development of all civilizations and strive for harmony among them.

"No matter how the international landscape evolves, we in China will always keep the Global South in our heart, and maintain our roots in the Global South. We support more Global South countries in joining the cause of BRICS, so that we can combine the great strength of the Global South to build together a community with a shared future for mankind," Xi said.

Xi returned to Beijing on Thursday midnight.

Prior to his departure, the head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and senior officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry gathered at the Kazan International Airport to see off the Chinese president.

The event is the first-ever summit of an expanded BRICS, which began with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has now evolved into an influential international cooperation mechanism with an expanded membership.

Besides the countries that officially joined the BRICS family on Jan 1, 2024, over 30 countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Türkiye and Azerbaijan have either formally applied to join or expressed interest in membership.

Xi's time in Kazan highlights greater BRICS cooperation

Former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim says China is standing out as a proactive force in global climate governance and is making significant contributions to addressing the most pressing environmental challenges thanks to its "enormous development" in the green energy transition.

Solheim was speaking in an exclusive interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of the United Nations Day, which falls each year on Oct. 24 and marks the anniversary of the UN Charter entering into force in 1945.

One of the central goals of the UN is working towards fulfilling its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with protecting the environment being one of the core aims. Regarding this, Solheim pinpointed three major global environmental issues -- namely pollution, climate change, and the destruction of ecosystems -- as being the biggest areas of concern.

However, despite highlighting the severe damage being caused on ecosystems by the effects of deforestation, the former UN official noted there are positive signs, including China's efforts to establish the world's largest national park system by 2035, after the country designated over a million square kilometers as national park space in order to better protect wildlife species and their habitats.

"If you ask me what is the biggest [issue], I tend to believe it's the destruction of ecosystems, because we have had such a reduction of rainforests, [and in] a lot of other very vulnerable ecosystems, we have seen the number of animals in many parts of the world coming down. However, there is also now good news in this area - China's now embarking upon the biggest national park system in the world in parallel with the United States. It's the biggest tree-planter in the world. Indonesia has reduced the deforestation rate in Indonesia to zero through good policies by the government and responsible action by business. So, there are good news we can learn from to tackle these," he said.

Solheim also China's experience in solving pollution offers a valuable lesson to the world, and said the country is well ahead in its promises to hit peak emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.

"It seems to the credit of China that it's one of the few nations which will deliver upon its promises prior to the [targeted] date. It seems that the peak emissions in China was either last year or at the very latest, this year, so six years before the promise of 2030. This is of course thanks to the enormous development of green energies in China. Two-thirds of all solar and wind energy on the planet last year came in China alone. One-third was the rest of the world combined," he said.

Solheim also hailed the developments he has seen after visiting a groundbreaking solar power plant project in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which he said further demonstrates how China is well on track in its green energy transformation and to fulfilling the commitments made in the climate change agreement drawn up in Paris in 2015.

"Just recently I went to Xinjiang, just outside of Urumqi, which has the biggest solar plant in the world. It's four gigawatts. Most people don't really know how much is four gigawatts. Four gigawatts is as much as the total grid in Nigeria, which is the biggest nation Africa [by population]. Four gigawatts, just [from] this one plant is more than the grid in most nations in the world. So it's an enormous development just this one plant and you see these plants coming up now all over China, [such as in] Gansu, Inner Mongolia, so many other places. And this is of course why China has been able to reduce its emissions prior to the promise, which was made in the Paris [Agreement] process," he said.

China delivering in efforts to address global climate change: former UN official