BRICS and Belt and Road Initiative develop in coordination

Paulo Cesar Silva, president and CEO of Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer S.A., speaks at BRICS Business Forum, in Xiamen, Fujian Province, on September 4, 2017. [Photo: China Plus/Zhang Xu]

Delegates at the BRICS Business Forum say the five-nation Bloc and the Chinese-proposed Belt and Road Initiative are developing in coordination, especially in areas related to infrastructure.

CRI's Yu Yang has more.

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are attending the BRICS summit in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, four months after the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trade routes to seek common development and prosperity.

Shen Dingli, Deputy Dean of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, says the development of BRICS and the Belt and Road Initiative is closely related.

"Among BRICS countries, China, Russia and India are located along the Belt and Road. China has the largest population in the world, followed by India while Russia is the world's largest country by territory. The three countries cover a great part of the Belt and Road. The sound cooperation on connectivity especially on infrastructure will make great contribution to connectivity of countries along the Belt and Road," said Shen Dingli.

Shen Shishun, an expert in Asia-Pacific studies at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), says that coordinated development of BRICS and the Belt and Road Initiative should be mainly focused on infrastructure.

"Infrastructure construction is the most important area of cooperation among BRICS countries. The good infrastructure cooperation among BRICS countries could enhance South-South cooperation among developing countries as well as development of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Shen Shishun.

Delegates attending the BRICS Business Forum also agree with Shen's view, and the delegates vow to enhance the connectivity of infrastructure among BRICS countries.

Paulo Cesar Silva, president and CEO of Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer S.A., says efforts to improve infrastructure should not be limited to land and sea.

"When we look at the global aviation sector, we see air transport growing at about 5%, and we have today about 22,000 aircraft in the world. In about 20 years, the figure will double, so we are going to have about 45,000 aircraft flying in the world," said Paulo Cesar Silva.

Cesar says that increased global aviation growth will come from emerging markets, such as India, China, Latin America, and Brazil. He calls it a huge opportunity for BRICS countries to promote aviation infrastructure cooperation.