President Xi Jinping paid a special visit to the Shanghai headquarters of the BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB) today to congratulate its president, former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, and the NDB team, on the occasion of the bank’s tenth anniversary. He received quite a warm welcome from Rousseff, the bank’s four Vice Presidents, and the bank staff, before the ceremony. In 2014, as President of Brazil, Rousseff hosted the BRICS summit in Fortaleza, whose “Fortaleza Declaration” announced the formation of the New Development Bank.
In his remarks, Xi called the NDB “a pioneering initiative for the unity and self-improvement of the Global South,” Xinhua reported, emphasizing its importance, given that the broader BRICS cooperation has entered a stage of high-quality development. He advised the staff and leadership of the bank “to consider the development needs of the Global South, and to provide more high-quality, low-cost and sustainable infrastructure financing,” and suggesting that it “needs to improve its management and operations,” and “implement more technology, green finance projects, and other help developing countries bridge the digital divide and accelerate green and low-carbon transformation.”