On May 21, the 15th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting was held in Brasilia, Brazil's capital. The meeting was chaired by the Brazilian Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, and trade ministers or representatives of BRICS members attended. Li Yongjie, Deputy China International Trade Representative from the Ministry of Commerce of China attended the meeting and delivered remarks.
Li Yongjie stated that the importance of strengthening BRICS economic and trade cooperation has been further highlighted in the face of the current global trade tensions. BRICS countries should further coordinate positions, safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, categorically oppose unilateralism and protectionism, continue to promote liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and build an open world economy. BRICS countries should make good use of the BRICS mechanism of consultation on WTO issues and enhance cooperation on WTO reform.
Li Yongjie noted that BRICS countries should implement the consensus reached by their leaders, strengthen pragmatic economic and trade cooperation, focus on creating model cooperation projects in areas such as green mining, electronic bills of lading, standard cooperation, and digital and green transformation, better benefit businesses and people in all countries and deepen greater BRICS cooperation.
Participants expressed strong concerns about the increasing unilateral tariffs and non-tariff measures, noting that these lead to trade distortions and are non-compliant with the WTO rules. All parties agreed that BRICS members should jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system, oppose unilateralism and trade protectionism, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing members. They agreed to fully leverage complementary advantages in industrial structures and resource endowments, strengthen economic and trade cooperation in emerging areas such as the digital economy, green development, and supply chains, and promote inclusive growth and sustainable development that benefits all.
The meeting issued the Joint Declaration of the 15th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting and three annexures, BRICS Declaration on WTO Reform and Strengthening of Multilateral Trading System, BRICS Data Economy Governance Understanding, and BRICS Trade and Sustainable Development Framework.
During the meeting, Li Yongjie also held talks with heads of delegations, exchanging views on multilateral and bilateral economic and trade issues.