SHANGHAI, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Trade ministers from BRICS countries pledged to rise against protectionism and safeguard the multilateral trade system after concluding their annual meeting in Shanghai Wednesday.

The member countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are also members of the WTO, playing a major part in global economic governance, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Ministers agreed to firmly oppose protectionism and pledged to annul any protective measures, calling on other countries to follow suit.

They also encouraged more countries to participate in the WTO, urging the institution to show more commitment to receiving the least developed countries.

"Safeguarding the multilateral trade system and the rise against protectionism serves the common interests of emerging and developing economies," Zhong Shan, China's minister of commerce, said Tuesday.

"As the host nation of this year's meeting, China has confidence in implementing the consensus reached by leaders of BRICS nations. The Shanghai meeting will pave way for the leaders summit later this year," he said.

China, which took over the BRICS presidency this year, will host the Ninth BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province. Enditem

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