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Wang Kexiang, a 65-year-old retiree living in Beijing, is addicted to nuts. Since he has a heart problem and the doctor has told him eating nuts is good for his heart, he eats them every day. What's more, he has also persuaded his entire family to join him in his munching habit. Now the household spends almost 500 yuan ($75) a month on nuts, around one sixth of his monthly pension.

A Chinese technician from XCMG Construction Machinery shows a Brazilian co-worker how to install parts in a crane in the company’s manufacturing plant in Pouso Alegre, Brazil, on June 4, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Among the various kinds of nuts available, Wang loves pine nuts imported from Brazil the most, saying they are bigger and better-tasting than domestic ones. That's why Wang was excited when he heard the news that there would be closer e-commerce cooperation among BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"Currently, Brazilian pine nuts are sold here at a very high price. A very small bag could easily cost up to 50 yuan ($7.5). I am hoping I can buy more cheaper types in the future," Wang told Beijing Review. "That would be one of the concrete benefits for us ordinary people from closer ties among BRICS nations."

Strengthening e-commerce cooperation was one of the eight major consensuses reached at the Seventh Meeting of the BRICS Trade Ministers in Shanghai on August 1-2. Others included more cooperation on digital networks at ports, services trade, intellectual property rights, investment facilitation and opposing protectionism.

The consensuses cover every aspect of BRICS economic and trade ties, said Bai Ming, Deputy Director of the International Market Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. "They are interconnected and support each other, opening the next decade of BRICS cooperation," Bai told Beijing Review.

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