The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed President Xi Jinping will travel to South Africa to attend the upcoming BRICS summit, the first time he’ll visit Africa since 2018. Xi will be joined by three other of the group’s leaders along with Russian President Vladimir Putin who will attend remotely.
The two main priorities at this year’s gathering will be expanding the bloc’s membership to include any of the two dozen countries that have applied to join and the creation of a new BRICS currency as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.