China Doubles Down as Defender of Free Trade at Brics, But Divisions Remain

Members Walk Tightrope Between Criticizing Tariffs and Avoiding Confrontation With Trump

- Lim Min Zhang

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept 8 doubled down on efforts to pitch China as a defender of the international order and free trade at a meeting of Brics, but divisions remain among the 11-member grouping.

"Economic globalisation is an unstoppable historical trend," Mr Xi said at the online meeting convened by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"The development of all countries cannot be separated from an open and cooperative international environment, and no one can retreat into an island of self-isolation," he added in an implicit criticism of the US' tariffs regime that has caused global economic uncertainty.

US President Donald Trump's freewheeling use of tariffs appears to have given fresh reason for unity among the members of Brics, a disparate grouping that accounts for nearly 40 per cent of global gross domestic product. India and Brazil face some of the highest tariffs rates by the US, at 50 per cent.

Brics consists of 11 economies, up from the original five of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. The non-Western grouping dominated by China and Russia hopes to raise the international influence of Global South countries.