President Xi Jinping of China condemned the “trade wars and tariff wars” at the Virtual BRICS Summit, warning that protectionism and unilateralism are becoming more rampant.
“Trade wars and tariff wars waged by some countries severely disrupt the world economy and undermine international trade rules,” the Chinese leader said on Monday.
Although the president was silent on the target(s) of his speech, international trade tariffs spiked after President Donald Trump first imposed a new United States tax regime in April this year.
In his message to the BRICS nations, Xi noted that the meeting was called to discuss the current issues of common interest as a “transformation unseen in a century” accelerates.
Xi charged the allies, at the forefront of the Global South, to defend the multilateral trading system and advance greater cooperation to promote international fairness, peace, and development.
The president believes countries cannot thrive without an international environment of open cooperation, saying that “economic globalization is an irresistible trend of history.”
Xi advised the BRICS member-states to strongly uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization and “oppose all forms of protectionism.”
With the multinational alliance accounting for nearly half of the world’s population and one-fifth of global trade, he encouraged stronger ties to strengthen synergy for common development.
The president declared China’s readiness to work with fellow BRICS countries to implement the Global Development Initiative and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
However, Russian President, Vladimir Putin’s speech at the gathering was not released to the press. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva initiated the extraordinary summit.
