Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Saturday that exchange of views and cooperation among the so-called "BRIC" nations are beneficial to promoting regional and world peace and stability.

China, Russia, Brazil and India, the four emerging economies known as BRIC, are all countries "with important influence in today's world", Yang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, or the parliament.

The four countries are faced with common challenges and also share many development opportunities, Yang said.

He believes cooperation among the four nations is "in the interest of promoting peace, stability and development in relevant regions and in the world," he told reporters.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2009)