Work Hand in Hand for Common Development* 

March 27, 2013 

Your Excellency President Jacob Zuma,
Your Excellency President Dilma Rousseff,
Your Excellency President Vladimir Putin,
Your Excellency Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Ladies and gentlemen, 

It gives me great pleasure to come back to South Africa, the Rainbow Nation, after my last visit more than two years ago. I am deeply impressed by the warm hospitality of the South African people and their strong support for BRICS cooperation. I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to you, President Zuma, and the South African government for the thoughtful arrangements you have made for the meeting. 

As an old Chinese saying goes, "Nothing, not even mountains and seas, can separate people with common goals and ideals."¹ The five countries from four continents are gathering here for the great goal of fostering partnership for common development and the noble cause of promoting democracy in international relations, and advancing the peace and development of mankind. To pursue peace, development and mutually beneficial cooperation is our common aspiration and responsibility. 

We should firmly uphold international fairness and justice, and world peace and stability. The world today is not peaceful, continually facing new global threats and challenges. The BRICS countries love and cherish peace, and we share the aspiration of lasting peace in the world, a peaceful and stable social environment for all countries and a decent life for all peoples. 

No matter how international situations may unfold, we should stay committed to pursuing peaceful development and mutually beneficial cooperation. What we need is peace and cooperation, not war and confrontation. While pursuing our own interests, we should also accommodate the legitimate concerns of other countries. 

No matter how the international setup may evolve, we should stay committed to the principles of equality, democracy and inclusiveness. We should respect the right of all countries to independently choose their social systems and development paths and the diversity of civilizations. Countries, irrespective of their size, strength and level of development, are all equal members of the international community; the internal affairs of a country should be handled by its own people, and international affairs should be managed by all countries through consultation. 

No matter how the reform of the global governance system may proceed, we should take an active and constructive part in the process of making the international order truly just and equitable, and thus provide institutional safeguards for world peace and stability. 

We should vigorously promote a global development partnership and work for the common prosperity of all countries. A single tree does not make a forest. In this era of continuing economic globalization, we BRICS countries should not just seek our own development, but also work for the common development of all countries. 

We should run our own affairs well by expanding our economy and improving the people's lives, and create new sources of growth for the world economy. We should encourage all countries to strengthen coordination of macro-economic policies, reform the international monetary and financial systems, promote, liberalize, and facilitate trade and investment, and bolster the momentum of global economic growth. 

We should work together on setting the international development agenda, make full use of the productivity and material resources accumulated by mankind, achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, narrow the North-South gap in development, and make global development more balanced. The theme of today's meeting, "Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialization," is not only the development goal of the BRICS countries, but also an important area of cooperation between the BRICS countries and the African countries. 

We should forge a strong bond among the BRICS countries through building this partnership, advance our cooperation in economy and trade, finance, infrastructure, personnel interflow and other fields, and move towards the goal of integrated markets, multi-tiered financial, network, land, air and sea links, and greater cultural exchanges. 

We should jointly support Africa's pursuit of stronger growth, accelerated integration, and industrialization, and help Africa become a new growth pole in the world economy. 

We should reinforce mutually beneficial cooperation and outcomes. We still have a long way to go before we can deliver a decent life to the three billion people of our countries and fully meet their aspirations for a better life. To accomplish this task, we should rely first and foremost on our own efforts, but we also need closer cooperation among the BRICS countries. 

We should continue to enhance political trust among our five countries and friendship among our peoples, do more to share experiences in governance, and jointly promote industrialization, IT application, urbanization and agricultural modernization. We should follow the law governing development, foster new ideas and meet difficulties head on in pursuing development. We should continue to step up coordination and cooperation under the frameworks of the United Nations, the G20 and international economic and financial institutions to uphold our common interests. 

We should translate our political consensus into concrete actions, actively pursue such initiatives as a BRICS development bank and contingent reserve arrangement, accelerate practical cooperation in all fields, consolidate the economic and social foundation of cooperation, and present a positive image of the BRICS countries pursuing both domestic development and international cooperation. 

It is only five years since the BRICS mechanism was launched, and it is still at its initial stage of development. We should run our own affairs well, strengthen the cooperative partnership among BRICS countries and improve institutional building for BRICS cooperation. Our cause will surely thrive as long as we keep firm confidence in our own development paths and in cooperation among the BRICS countries, do not flinch from facing risks and are not misled by any distraction. 

Dear colleagues, 

I know you all have a keen interest in China's future development. Looking ahead, China will work towards two goals: First, we will double China's 2010 GDP and per capita income of urban and rural residents by 2020 and bring about a moderately prosperous society in all respects that benefits our population of more than one billion. Second, we will build China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by 2049, when we mark the centenary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. 

To achieve these two goals, we will continue to make development our top priority and economic growth our central task, and promote economic and social development. We will put the people's interests first, strive for all-round progress in the economic, political, cultural, social and ecological fields, coordinate all aspects of our modernization drive, and make China a beautiful country. 

Our development endeavor is an open one, as we will remain committed to the basic state policy of opening to the outside world and the mutually beneficial strategy of opening up and further liberalize our economy. 

Our development endeavor is a cooperative one, as we will work for common development, carry out economic and technological cooperation with all other countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, and promote our own development and the common development of all countries through cooperation. 

To achieve these two goals, we need a sound external environment. China will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and align the interests of the Chinese people with those of the peoples of all other countries. We will work with other countries to strengthen macro-economic policy coordination, oppose protectionism, improve global economic governance and boost global growth. 

Dear colleagues, 

Enhancing cooperation with other BRICS countries has always been a diplomatic priority for China. Our country will continue to strengthen cooperation with the other BRICS countries, improve the structure, and make it more productive. The result will be more robust growth for all concerned. This will deliver real gains to people of all countries and make a greater contribution to world peace and development. 

Thank you! 

* A keynote speech at the Fifth BRICS Leaders Meeting, Durban, South Africa.

Notes 

¹  Ge Hong: The Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Bao Pu Zi). Ge Hong (c. 281-341), also known as Bao Pu Zi, was a minor official during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420). He was best known for his interest in Taoism, alchemy and techniques of longevity. Composed of two volumes, the Inner Chapter and the Outer Chapter, The Master Who Embraces Simplicity recounts the author's pursuit of life through maintaining health with Taoism and governing the country with Confucianism.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)