The 9th BRICS Summit was held in Xiamen on September 4. Zhongshan, with its export-oriented economy, has established ever closer trade relations with the BRICS countries and made great achievements in trade and investment. 

In the first 7 months of this year, Zhongshan's export and import with India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa reached 7.54 billion yuan, an increase of 57.3% over the same period last year. The city's growth of import and export was 26.7% higher than the overall growth rate of its foreign trade. 

Zhongshan and the BRICS have gained mutual benefits from their trade. According to statistics from Zhongshan Customs, the city’s export volume to the BRICS exceeded 6.99 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 60.5%. Zhongshan's import from the BRICS was 550 million yuan, 25.5% higher over the same period of last year. Major commodities imported included logs, diamonds and pulp, and exports included mechanical and electrical products.