By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday said the country’s President, Xi Jinping will personally attend the summit of the BRICS bloc next week in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Authorities said Xi’s visit will be followed by a state visit in South Africa.
Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Hua Chunying in a statement also said that during his Aug. 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue along with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
China is a member of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and India and the summit host, South Africa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not physically attend the summit over an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against him, South African authorities said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin “has decided to take part” in the summit via video link, without confirming if he had intended to attend in person.
The BRICS summit is the first to be held in person since 2019 arising from COVID-19 restrictions.
It comes as the bloc seeks new relevance amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine, South Africa’s crashing economy and sharpening competition between Asian giants China and India.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said that he supports more countries joining the group and intends to raise the topic at the summit.
At least 20 countries have formally applied to join, Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira said following the comments by Lula, who since taking office has repeatedly condemned the existing Western-dominated international structure.
Among the hopefuls are Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Venezuela, Vieira said.
