Zuma in Xiamen, China for BRICS Summit

China

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma arrived in east China’s Xiamen City on Saturday morning, to attend meetings of the 9th BRICS Summit scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday.

Leaders of other BRICS countries will also arrive in Xiamen for the summit.

The theme of this year’s summit is Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future.

China will host the largest ever BRICS Business Forum from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the business forum and deliver a keynote speech.

On the sidelines, the Dialog between Emerging Market Economies and Developing Countries will be held under the theme of Promoting Mutually Beneficial Cooperation for Common Development.

China held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the headquarters for the New Development Bank in Shanghai on Saturday.

Chinese Finance Minister Xiao Jie and New Development Bank President Kundapur Vaman Kamath delivered opening remarks just before the start of the ceremony.

“As the founding member and the important shareholder of New Development Bank, China will actively continue to support New Development Bank for stronger growth. As the host country of New Development Bank, we will continue to provide world class convenience and support for the successful operation of New Development Bank,” he said.

The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by the “BRICS” group of emerging economies in 2015, aims to make about $4 billion in loans next year and plans to soon start lending to private sector projects, Kamath said on Friday.