BEIJING, October 14. /TASS/. China's trade turnover with BRICS countries increased by 5.1% year-on-year in January-September and amounted to 4.62 trillion yuan (around $653 bln at the current exchange rate), according to Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China Wang Lingjun.
He emphasized that the BRICS cooperation mechanism is an important platform for emerging and developing countries, which helps strengthen solidarity and cooperation among them and ensures the protection of their common interests and noted that after five more members joined the group in January, the association now accounts for more than one-fifth of the total global trade volume.
According to the official, the member countries of the association make full use of their comparative advantages in the production of industrial intermediate goods. He noted that they complement each other in such key areas as steel, chemical and textile industries.
BRICS was established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, and South Africa joined in 2011. On January 1 this year, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia became full members of the group. The main event this year, during Russia's presidency, will be the summit in Kazan on October 22-24.