The BRICS Economic and Trade Forum was convened on April 18 in Beijing, which was themed “Standards cooperation facilitates trade development, BRICS cooperation empowers the Global South”.

The forum was hosted by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and co-organized by the CCPIT Commercial Sub-Council and the specialized working group on trade and investment of the BRICS Business Council. It was attended by more than 200 representatives from related international organizations, business associations, research institutes, and enterprises, as well as ambassadors to China. The BRICS Action Plan for Trade Development and Standards Cooperation Initiative (2025-2026) was released during the forum.

The cooperation on economic and trade cooperation is an important pillar of BRICS cooperation. The business communities of BRICS countries should join hands and uphold the multilateral trading system based on the framework of the World Trade Organization, to jointly address global challenges. We should work together with governmental departments, professional organizations and academia to strengthen standards development for trade, leveraging standardization means to facilitate the trade development of BRICS countries, said Li Qingshuang, Vice Chair of CCPIT.

The BRICS cooperation has great potential and far-reaching influence. The big BRICS family brings more economic and trade rules and sectoral standards to global partners, indicating the vigorous development of BRICS cooperation and demonstrating the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, according to Liao Lin, Chair of the Board of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

In face of a challenging world, we can stimulate innovation, expand business opportunities, and create more jobs by strengthening common standards to facilitate trade, said Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres, Brazil’s Secretary of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, who delivered a speech via video.