The 8th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Industry was held in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

On August 16, 2024, the 8th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Industry was held in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The theme of the conference is "Strengthening multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security". Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xin Guobin led a delegation to attend the meeting and delivered a speech.

Xin Guobin said that as an important emerging market in the world, the expanded BRICS countries will surely play a more important role in maintaining the global economic order and the security and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain. The new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation has brought new opportunities for industrial transformation and upgrading in all countries. China is ready to work with our BRICS partners to deepen practical cooperation, seize opportunities, meet challenges and inject new impetus into the steady recovery of the world economy. First, to maintain the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, deepen collaborative innovation cooperation in accordance with market principles, create an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory development environment, and jointly build a secure, stable, smooth and efficient, open and inclusive global industrial and supply chain system that is mutually beneficial. The second is to promote artificial intelligence to help industrial sustainable development, strengthen artificial intelligence development and governance cooperation, promote the innovative application of a new generation of artificial intelligence technology in typical industrial scenarios, increase the construction and promotion of smart factories and smart supply chains, and jointly promote the intelligent upgrading of industries. China has established the China-BRICS Artificial Intelligence Development and Cooperation Center, and we welcome the active participation of BRICS countries. Third, promote green and low-carbon industrial development, uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, deepen exchanges and cooperation in green technologies, products, equipment, services and carbon footprint management of products, and work together to advance the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The meeting was chaired by Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Alikhanov, who holds the rotating presidency of the BRICS in 2024, and attended by heads of industrial authorities of the BRICS countries including China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Egypt, UAE, Iran and Ethiopia, as well as high-level representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union. The meeting reviewed and adopted the Joint Declaration of the 8th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Industry, which aims to promote the building of partnership for the new Industrial Revolution and deepen exchanges on industrial policies in key areas such as new industrialization, small and medium-sized enterprises, industrial chain and supply chain. Seven new working groups have been set up in the chemical industry, metallurgy and mining, industrial digital transformation, intelligent manufacturing and robotics, photovoltaic industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, and pharmaceutical industry, and broad consensus has been reached on strengthening the initiative coordination of the Innovation base of the BRICS New Industrial Revolution Partnership and the Industrial Capacity Center.

During the meeting, Xin Guobin held talks with the heads of delegations of Russia, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union respectively, exchanging views on strengthening cooperation in the industrial field and coordination under the multilateral framework.

Heads of relevant departments and bureaus of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Center for International Economic and Technological Cooperation, the Innovation Base of the BRICS Partnership for New Industrial Revolution and the Chinese Embassy in Russia attended the above activities.