Hu calls for stronger partnership among BRICS members

A man uses a Blackberry mobile phone to take a picture of leaders of the BRICS during a joint news conference in Sanya, Hainan province April 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Hu said all countries should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and bring into full play the central role of the United Nations and its Security Council in "peace keeping, peace making and peace building.

"We should seek peaceful settlement of international disputes through dialogue and consultation," Hu said at the summit.

He said all countries should uphold the principle of "seeking common ground while shelving differences" and respect the sovereignty of other countries.

"Internal affairs of a country should be handled independently by the country itself and international affairs should be managed collectively through consultation by all," Hu said.

"We should be committed to multilateralism and international cooperation, and promote democracy in international relations," he added.

"We should respect the sovereignty of all countries and their right to choose their development paths and models in keeping with the principle of seeking common ground while shelving differences, " He said.

The term of BRIC was first coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neil in 2001 to group four fast-growing economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was invited in late 2010 to join the bloc.

The five countries' population made up 42 percent of the world's total and their combined gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for 18 percent of the global GDP in 2010. Their trade volume took up 15 percent of the world's total last year.