Chinese President to Chair BRICS Summit, Address Boao Forum

Chinese President Hu Jintao will chair the BRICS Leaders' Meeting and address the Boao Forum for Asia, both slated for mid-April in the southern island province of Hainan, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu announced here Thursday.

China will host the BRICS summit on April 14 in Sanya city of Hainan,to be attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma, Jiang said.

BRICS is a group acronym that refers to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which are considered to be at the same stage of economic development.

The BRICS leaders will have in-depth exchanges of views on the international situation, economic, financial and development issues and outline their future cooperation, Jiang said.

Hu will also attend the opening ceremony and deliver a key-note speech for the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia on April 15 in Boao, Hainan, the spokeswoman said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, South African President Jacob Zuma, ROK Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik,Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mikola Azarov and New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Bill English have been invited to the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum, she said.

Established in 2001, the Boao forum is committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.