First BRICS health ministers’ meeting adopts Beijing Declaration

Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi spoke with South African counterpart Maite Nkoana-Mashabane about the agreed invitation, extending the forum’s geographical reach to Africa.

After the invitation, South Africa became the fifth member and the forum adopted the name BRICS. Its entry gave Africa a direct place in the leaders’ meetings.

Ministers met in Sanya before the summit, opening a regular forum for trade policy and economic cooperation.

The Sanya summit formally welcomed South Africa in the leaders’ forum and stressed solidarity, development and broader dialogue with emerging and developing countries.

BRICS leaders asked for more representative international institutions, including the UN Security Council, and stronger developing-country voices in economic governance.

The five ministers and central bank representatives discussed global instability and called for coordinated solutions and reform of the international financial system.

The ministers discussed trade cooperation and called for a more development-oriented multilateral trading system.

The New Delhi summit linked global stability and development, called for more representative governance and addressed trade, health and sustainable development.

The Delhi Declaration directed finance ministers to study the feasibility of a new development bank for infrastructure and sustainable development in BRICS and other developing countries.

The banks agreed on credit facilities in local currencies to facilitate transactions and reduce dependence on fully convertible currencies in intra-BRICS trade.