China's Hu to attend first BRIC summit

China said Tuesday that President Hu Jintao would attend the first official BRIC summit in Russia, during which the reform of international financial institutions would be high on the agenda. Hu will leave China on Sunday for a five-day trip to Yekaterinburg in western Russia, high level officials at the foreign ministry told reporters.
The trip will also incorporate a meeting on June 15 of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) - a security-based grouping comprising Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - and a state visit to Russia from June 16 to 18.
The summit of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) leaders, also on June 16, is the first of its kind and comes as the four rapidly-developing countries increase their clout amid the global financial crisis. "In recent years, all the four BRIC countries have enjoyed rapid economic growth, and their international standing and profile have been increasing," said vice foreign minister He Yafei.
Meetings of the four nations' foreign ministers have been held since 2006, but next week's gathering will be the first at the level of head of state. "The leaders will focus on the international financial crisis, the G20 summit, reform of international financial institutions, food security, energy security, climate change, development aid, and the future of BRIC dialogue," He said.
The vice-foreign minister refused to be drawn on whether the four leaders would also discuss promoting the use of the Chinese currency - the yuan - as an international currency. He said that China had signed bilateral currency swap arrangements totalling 650 billion yuan (95 billion dollars) with some countries. "But this does not mean that the yuan has become an international reserve currency," he said.
The SCO meeting, meanwhile, will also be attended by non-members Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran, India, Afghanistan, and an under-secretary-general of the United Nations, vice foreign minister Li Hui said. President Hu will then go on to meet his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other officials as part of a state visit to the nation. He will then leave Russia on June 18 for Slovakia and Croatia for state visits there.