Chinese President Xi Jinping will Attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa Next Week 

This a rare journey abroad for the leader who has preferred to stay home this year amid mounting political problems. Xi will make the trip to Johannesburg starting Monday at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday. The visit will be Xi’s second international trip of 2023, after he travelled to Russia in March. The Chinese president previously visited South Africa in 2018 as he sought to enhance his country’s diplomatic and economic ties in Africa. The five BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet in Johannesburg next week to discuss how to turn a loose club of nations accounting for a quarter of the global economy into a geopolitical force that can challenge the developed world’s dominance. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will take part by video rather than attending in person. A total of 69 countries have been invited to the summit in South Africa, including all African states, and expansion is expected to be high on the agenda. Countries including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Ethiopia have shown interest in joining the group either formally or informally.

BLOOMBERG