BRICS, S.American countries "rising power" in int'l structure: Chinese president

BRASILIA, July 16 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Wednesday BRICS and South American countries, as emerging states and developing countries, constitute "the rising power" in the international structure.

"We should jointly push the international order toward a fairer and more rational direction, maintain the rights of people's self-choice for choosing social system and development path, strengthen global governance and attract more attention to the issue of development from the international community," he said.

Xi made the remarks in a dialogue between BRICS countries' leaders and presidents from 11 South American nations, a sideline event after the conclusion of the sixth BRICS summit held in Brazil's coastal city of Fortaleza.

Heads of state from BRICS countries, including Xi, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and South African President Jacob Zuma attended the dialogue.

Also present were Surinamese President Desi Bouterse, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Guyanese President Donald Ramotar, Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

During the dialogue, Xi said efforts should be made to strengthen the connectivity between the two large markets of BRICS and South America.

"BRICS countries can actively participate in infrastructure construction, resource exploration, industrial development and fund-rising projects in South America," he said.

The two sides could also increase people-to-people exchanges for friendship among the peoples, he noted.

Xi hailed the long history of the exchanges between China and South America.

"The cooperation between China and South American countries constitute one of the key directions for China to strengthen its cooperation with developing countries," he said.

"We are willing to continue to be your good friend and partner for the overall growth of China-Latin American cooperation," the Chinese leader said.

China will host the informal economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) later this year, and "is working with all economies, including South American members, to foster the framework for Asia-Pacific economic integration and intra-connected network, and develop the future-oriented Asia-Pacific partnership," he said, adding that China wishes to see the active participation of South American nations.

The South American leaders present all expressed that the dialogue offered an opportunity to share development experiences and blueprint future development.

They believed that the two sides boast huge cooperation potentials and should push forward pragmatic cooperation for advancing regional economic integration.

They welcomed the BRICS countries' establishing a development bank and creating a contingent reserve arrangement, and hoped the mechanism could provide fund-rising support and increase capabilities of relevant countries to cope with financial risks.

They believed that BRICS-South American cooperation is not only conducive to each's growth but also to the democratization of international relations and to the peace, stability and prosperity of the world.