BRICS countries, as important emerging markets and major developing countries, need to act with a sense of responsibility to bring positive, stabilizing and constructive strength to the world, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi made the remarks while chairing the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing. BRICS is a group of countries which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The summit, titled "Fostering High-quality Partnership and Ushering in a New Era of Global Development", comes as the world faces the continued spread of COVID-19, a tortuous world economic recovery and increasingly salient peace and security issues.