China will host the 14th BRICS Summit as it took over the BRICS Presidency from Jan 1, 2022. The First BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in 2022 was held via a video link on April 8. Liu Kun, China's Minister of Finance, and Yi Gang, Governor of the People's Bank of China, co-chaired the meeting. Finance ministers and central banks governors of other BRICS countries as well as the President of the New Development Bank (NDB) attended the meeting. Centering on the theme Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development, the attendees discussed issues such as Macroeconomic Outlook and Policy Coordination, New Development Bank, Infrastructure Investment, and BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance. They also exchanged views over expected outcomes of BRICS financial cooperation this year.

Liu pointed out that over the recent years, the BRICS countries have maintained a good momentum in financial cooperation, making important contributions to improving global economic governance as well as promoting global economic recovery and high-quality development. In 2022, China will continue to work with all parties to promote BRICS financial cooperation for practical and balanced results, in a bid to make preparations for the 14th BRICS Summit in terms of finance policies and outcomes.

With weakened economic growth, complicated international situation and severe impediments faced by global development, the BRICS countries should show their responsibility in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, Liu said. They should strengthen macro policy coordination in their support for the steady recovery of the global economy, with a view to achieving a more robust, greener and more balanced global development and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Liu added.

Liu stressed that China will continue to deepen practical financial cooperation among the BRICS countries and urge the NDB to speed up the formulation of its second five-year General Strategy, advance its work on membership expansion and keep optimizing its internal governance. Focusing on the topic of promoting high-quality economic, social and environmental development through public-private partnership (PPP), China will also carry out knowledge sharing and experience exchanges in infrastructure investment. China encourages efforts to give full play to the role of the BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance, deepen research collaboration, and provide more intellectual support to BRICS countries in carrying out coordination and advancing cooperation.

Representatives of other BRICS countries appreciated China’s leading role as the BRICS Presidency, and welcomed China’s proposals to strengthen policy coordination among BRICS countries and deepen practical financial cooperation. They also briefed on their countries' experience in policies and good practices in relevant fields, and presented constructive insights and suggestions on the outcomes of BRICS financial cooperation this year.

The attendees expressed their willingness to support China in hosting the 2022 BRICS financial cooperation meetings and to make positive contributions to the success of the 14th BRICS Summit.