New Delhi, March 28 (Xinhua-RHC) – The China Development Bank (CDB) and its BRICS’ counterparts will sign agreements on Thursday to formalize cooperation in local currency lending, in a bid to further facilitate trade and investment among the five countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The announcement was made by the CDB chairman Chen Yuan at a financial forum gathering of CDB and member banks in New Delhi on Wednesday. He said that under the agreements, namely the Master Agreement for Extending Credit Facilities in Local Currency, and the Multilateral Letter of Credit Confirmation Facility Agreement, each country will make its own currency loans available to the other four member countries.

The Chinese official, quoted by Xinhua news agency said: “Using our own currencies to issue loans and settle payments can minimize exposure to exchange rate fluctuations, reduce our reliance on third-party currencies, and facilitate trade and investment.”

Speaking at a press conference later in the day, Chen commented that these two agreements will also be important documents for this year’s BRICS summit, bearing far reaching significance in deepening financial cooperation.

Also on Wednesday, BRICS commerce ministers called for resisting protectionist tendencies, explored detailed measures of trade cooperation among member countries and underlined the importance of stable oil prices for global economic recovery during the second BRICS commerce ministers’ meeting held in New Delhi on March 28th, a day ahead of the fourth BRICS summit.

Trade among BRICS countries grew in the past decade. Statistics showed that from 2001 to 2010, inter-BRICS trade soared with an average annual growth of 28 percent. Total trade among the five countries stood at 230 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.

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