BRICS Partners

China and Brazil established diplomatic ties on August 15, 1974. The two sides set up a strategic partnership in 1993. Their trade volume in 2010 totaled $62.55 billion.

China and the former Soviet Union established diplomatic ties on October 2, 1949. Russia inherited the ties after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991. The two sides set up a constructive partnership in 1994. They upgraded their relationship to a strategic cooperative partnership two years later. Their trade volume in 2010 was worth $55.45 billion.

China and India established diplomatic ties on April 1, 1950. In 1996, they set up a constructive cooperative partnership. The two sides upgraded their relationship to a strategic cooperative partnership in 2005. Their trade volume reached $61.7 billion in 2010.

China and South Africa established diplomatic ties on December 30, 1997. In 2010, the two countries set up a comprehensive strategic partnership. Their trade volume was $25.65 billion in 2010.

(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Sanya Declaration

Leaders from the five BRICS countries adopted the Sanya Declaration at the Third BRICS Summit in Sanya on April 14. The declaration included:

- A welcome for South Africa as it became the fifth member nation. The group now looks forward to strengthening dialogue and cooperation with South Africa within the forum

- Vows to strengthen BRICS cooperation as well as promote coordination on international and regional issues

- Continued reinforcement of the BRICS partnership for common development and non-confrontational cooperation reflecting the principles of openness, solidarity and mutual assistance

- Appeals to strengthen global economic governance, promote democracy in international relations, and enhance the voice of emerging and developing countries in international affairs

- Reaffirmations of the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, to make it more effective, efficient and representative

- Condemning terrorism and stressing there can be no justification, whatsoever, for any acts of terrorism

- Calls for major economies to enhance coordination of their macroeconomic policies and work together to achieve - strong, sustainable and balanced growth

- Support for reforming the international monetary system with a broad-based international reserve currency system. BRICS welcomes discussions about the role of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) in the existing international monetary system including the composition of the SDR basket of currencies

(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)