Xi Jinping's Speech at the Closing Ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum (Full Text)

Deepen solidarity and cooperation to address risks and challenges

Building a better world together

——Speech at the closing ceremony of the 2023 BRICS Business Forum

(22 August 2023, Johannesburg Shanteng Convention Centre)

President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping

Honorable President Ramaphosa,

Dear friends from the business community,

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Congratulations on the successful holding of the BRICS Business Forum in South Africa!

Ten years ago, I and other BRICS leaders witnessed the birth of the BRICS Business Council in South Africa. Over the past 10 years, the business community of the BRICS countries has not forgotten its original aspiration, seized the opportunity, deepened cooperation, made positive contributions to the economic and social development of the BRICS countries, and injected positive energy into the world economic growth.

At present, the changes of the world, the times, and history are unfolding in an unprecedented way, and human society has reached a critical juncture. Will we insist on cooperation and integration, or will we move towards division and confrontation? Will we work together to maintain peace and stability, or will we slide into the abyss of a "new Cold War"? Is it to prosperity in openness and inclusiveness, or to fall into depression in bullying? Is it to enhance mutual trust through communication and mutual learning, or to let pride and prejudice cloud conscience? Where the pendulum of history goes depends on our choices.

"It's easy to do it naturally, but it's hard to do it when you move behind it." In the past few decades, mankind has achieved remarkable results in economic development and social progress, precisely because it has learned the lessons of the two world wars and the Cold War, conformed to the historical trend of economic globalization, and opened up a righteous path of open development and win-win cooperation. Today's world is a community with a shared future of both prosperity and loss. What the people of all countries are looking forward to is not a "new Cold War" or a "small circle", but a world of lasting peace and universal security, an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of common prosperity. This is the logic of historical progress and the trend of the development of the times.

Ten years ago, I proposed to build a community with a shared future for mankind and urge all countries to build the earth we live on into a harmonious family. In the face of the test of high winds and turbulent seas, all countries should uphold the correct world outlook, historical outlook and overall situation, and translate the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind into action and vision into reality.

-- We need to promote common development and prosperity. Emerging market countries and developing countries have mostly emerged from the historical quagmire of colonialism. We have gone through untold hardships and made tremendous sacrifices to gain national independence and constantly explore a development path suited to our own national conditions. In the final analysis, everything we do is to enable people to live happily ever after. However, some countries are unwilling to lose their hegemonic status and wantonly encircle, suppress and suppress emerging market countries and developing countries. Whoever develops well must be contained; Whoever catches up will stumble. I have said many times that blowing out someone else's lamp does not make you brighter.

Every country has the right to development, and the people of all countries have the freedom to pursue a happy life. I put forward the Global Development Initiative (GDI) to promote the international community to follow the path of common development and revitalize the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the support of all countries, the Global Development Initiative (GDI) has become increasingly in-depth and solid, and cooperation projects in various fields have been vigorously carried out. China is ready to work with other countries to accelerate cooperation on the Initiative, strengthen the momentum of global development, comprehensively and deeply promote WTO reform, address common challenges and enhance the well-being of the people of all countries.

-- We need to work hard to achieve universal security. In recent years, the world has not been at peace, and many countries and regions have been plagued by wars and people have been displaced. The international community is eager to eliminate the root causes of conflicts and wars and to find a fundamental solution for lasting peace and stability in the world. Facts have shown that constantly expanding military alliances, expanding one's own sphere of influence, and squeezing the security space of other countries will inevitably lead to a security dilemma and lead to insecurity for all countries. Only by adhering to the new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security can we embark on a path of universal security.

Last year, I launched the Global Security Initiative, which has been supported by more than 100 countries and international organizations. China stands ready to work with all parties to promote the implementation of the Global Security Initiative, adhere to dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliance, and win-win rather than zero-sum, and work together to build a security community.

-- We need to uphold exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. A flower can't dress up a beautiful spring, and a hundred flowers can make the world full of spring. Diversity is the essence of human civilization. It is precisely because of the different histories, cultures and systems of various countries that it is necessary to exchange and learn from each other, learn from each other's strengths and make common progress. Deliberately clamoring for the duality of so-called "democracy and authoritarianism" and "freedom and autocracy" can only lead to the fragmentation of the world and the clash of civilizations.

I put forward the Global Civilization Initiative, emphasizing the promotion of the diversity of world civilizations, promoting the common values of all mankind, and strengthening people-to-people exchanges and cooperation. China welcomes all countries to actively participate in the initiative and cooperation, so as to promote the contention of different civilizations, break down barriers to exchanges, and continue the torch of human civilization.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

"Those who change are the nature of heaven and earth." In today's era, the collective rise of emerging market countries and developing countries represented by the BRICS countries is fundamentally changing the world map. Emerging market and developing countries have contributed 80 percent to world economic growth over the past 20 years, and their share of global GDP has increased from 24 percent to more than 40 percent over the past 40 years. "The green mountains can't cover it, after all, it flows eastward." No matter how much resistance there is, the BRICS will flourish as a positive, stable and good force. We will continue to deepen the BRICS strategic partnership, expand the BRICS+ model, actively promote the process of enlargement, deepen solidarity and cooperation with other emerging market countries and developing countries, promote world multipolarization and democratization of international relations, and promote the development of a more just and equitable international order. Today, the BRICS countries and more than 50 countries are gathering in South Africa, not to draw sides or engage in bloc confrontation, but to create a general pattern of peaceful development. I am glad to see that more than 20 countries are knocking on the BRICS door, and China sincerely welcomes everyone to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

China firmly pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and is committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind. As a developing country and a member of the "Global South", we have always shared the same fate with other developing countries, firmly upheld the common interests of developing countries, and promoted the increasing representation and voice of emerging market countries and developing countries in global affairs. China does not have the gene to claim hegemony and the impulse to play games among major powers, but firmly stands on the right side of history and firmly pursues the principle of "the world is for the common good".

At present, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people are comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization. The main characteristics of Chinese modernization are a huge population, common prosperity for all people, harmony between material and spiritual civilizations, harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and the path of peaceful development. Chinese modernization has created a new form of human civilization and presented a new picture of modernization. It is hoped that the vast number of developing countries will proceed from their own national conditions and explore new ways to achieve modernization on the basis of drawing on the achievements of mankind's outstanding civilization.

High-quality development is China's top priority in building a modern country in an all-round way. We are committed to implementing the new development concept and building a new development pattern. Over the past decade, China has contributed more than 30% of world economic growth annually. Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has maintained a positive upward trend. China has the institutional advantages of the socialist market economy, the demand advantage of the super-large-scale market, the supply advantage of a complete industrial system, and the talent advantage of a large number of high-quality workers and entrepreneurs. China's economy is resilient, full of potential and full of vitality, and the long-term positive fundamentals will not change, and China's economic ship will continue to move forward in the wind and waves.

China will always be an important opportunity for the world's development. We open our doors and welcome anyone who comes to work with us. As a super-large economy, China will firmly promote high-level opening-up, expand market access, reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, and improve the level of opening up of the modern service industry. We will continue to optimize the business environment, implement the national treatment of foreign-funded enterprises, create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, and build a network of high-standard free trade zones for the world. We will continue to promote the construction of ecological civilization, accelerate the construction of a beautiful China, actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Looking ahead, as China's population of more than 1.4 billion moves towards modernization, China will certainly make greater contributions to the world economy and provide greater space for the business community of various countries.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

But it is arduous, so it is great; But it is arduous, and it is even more glorious. As long as we unite and strengthen cooperation, we will not be afraid of any risks and challenges on the way forward, and we will surely push the giant ship of human development to a brighter future!

Thank you.