Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday acknowledged growing doubts over the relevance of the five-nation Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) bloc of large emerging economies but called for the group to stick together even after China’s tense border row with fellow member India. Xi hosts the ninth annual Brics summit on Monday in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen under the shadow of the border row and a North Korean hydrogen bomb blast. In a speech on Sunday in Xiamen, Xi alluded to questions hanging over the bloc, whose disparate members are preoccupied with political and economic problems at home. "Some people, seeing that emerging markets and developing countries have experienced growth setbacks, assert that Brics countries are losing their lustre." He said: "Brics countries have encountered headwinds of varying intensity" but added that the bloc remained "fully confident". Brics was formed to allow emerging economies that comprise more than 40% of humanity to presen...
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