China to host BRICS summit next year: Xi Jinping

Beijing, Sep 9: President Xi Jinping on Thursday said that China will take over as the chair of BRICS next year and host the 14th summit of the bloc in 2022.

China looks forward to working with BRICS partners to deepen cooperation in all areas and build a closer and more results-oriented partnership to meet common challenges and create a better future, Xi said while addressing the 13th BRICS summit via video link, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The13th BRICS summit is presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries that hold the summit every year rotate the presidency. India is this year’s chair of the BRICS. The summit was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro.

The theme of the summit was "Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus."

The summit this year coincides with the 15th anniversary of the BRICS. The BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.

This was the second time Prime Minister Modi chaired the BRICS summit. Earlier, he had chaired the Goa summit in 2016.