BRICS countries to enhance mutual strategic trust: Xi

BRICS leaders have agreed on deepening political and security cooperation while enhancing mutual strategic trust, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pose for a group photo with leaders attending the ninth BRICS summit and the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries and their spouses before a banquet in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 4, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng]

"We as the five countries' leaders believe it is in line with our common interests and international expectations to deepen political and security cooperation and enhance mutual strategic trust," Xi said when meeting the press at the end of the ninth BRICS summit in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.

Since the beginning of this year, BRICS leaders have had in-depth exchanges and reached important consensus on issues such as international situation, global governance, global and regional hotspots, and national security and development, said the president.

The Meeting of BRICS High Representatives for Security Issues and the first Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations held this year have injected fresh impetus into the countries' political and security cooperation, according to Xi.

He said the five countries have also instituted regular consultations among their permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and Vienna to coordinate their positions on major issues of common concern.

The steady progress in cooperation on counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, peace-keeping and the Middle East, among other issues, has raised the influence of BRICS countries, he noted.

The countries have supported efforts to keep the good momentum of political and security cooperation and played their part in maintaining world peace and stability, according to the president.

The BRIC grouping of Brazil, Russia, India and China was formally established in 2006. In 2010, South Africa joined the group, and the acronym was changed to BRICS.