BEIJING, June 10. /TASS/. China is ready to work with Russia to help strengthen the strategic partnership of the BRICS countries and it will support Russia's presidency of the association, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in Nizhny Novgorod.

"China is ready to exert every effort to support Russia’s BRICS presidency and to strengthen the strategic partnership in the association together with Russia," Wang was quoted as saying on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

He described BRICS is "an important platform for unity as well as cooperation between the emerging markets and developing countries." This expanded mechanism will play "an important key role in creating a fairer and more rational system of global governance."

According to Wang, Beijing, together with Moscow, intends to help strengthen the positions of countries of the global South and promote multilateral cooperation and inclusive development.

The BRICS Ministerial Council is being held in Nizhny Novgorod on June 10-11. This is the first meeting of the BRICS top diplomats after the group’s membership increased to ten.

BRICS expansion and Russia’s presidency

The BRICS group has seen two waves of expansion since its establishment in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the original membership, which included Brazil, India, China and Russia. In August 2023, six new members, including Argentina, were invited to join the association at once. Buenos Aires changed its mind in late December. The five new members - Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - began full-scale activities in BRICS on January 1, 2024.

Russia took over the rotating presidency of the association on January 1 until the end of this year. During this period there will be more than 250 events encompassing a wide agenda. The BRICS summit in Kazan in October will be the Russian presidency’s key event.