Chinese Xi Jinping says the world must "reject protectionism"

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged other leaders of emerging economies of the BRICS to "categorically reject protectionism" on Thursday during their annual summit at which the United States is criticized for escalating tariffs on foreign goods.

Mr. Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa shook hands and posed for a group photo on the second day of their meeting in Johannesburg.

The Trump administration's trade war with China, the world's second largest economy, and other major trading partners gave the summit focus to rally support for that Xi called "common prosperity".

The Chinese leader criticized "the escalation of protectionism and unilateralism" which he said directly affected the development of emerging markets.

"We must unleash enormous potential for economic cooperation," he said, and fight protectionism by working through the United Nations, the Group of 20 nations and elsewhere.

The BRICS leaders subsequently signed a declaration in which they agreed to strengthen economic and security cooperation, to support "multilateralism" and to work for "a more just international order".

"We call on all WTO members to abide by the rules of the WTO," they said in a statement, referring to the World Trade Organization.

A day earlier at the summit, Xi said that the world had to "choose between cooperation and confrontation" as part of the trade dispute with the United States in which he warned that he There would be no winner. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has accused China of "vicious" tactics on trade.

Putin, for his part, supported the idea of ​​opening regional branches of the new development bank for the BRICS. "We are negotiating with Brazil on this, starting with the fact that after the completion of the dossier, the opening of the office in Russia will begin," he said.