Brics Brazil Summit: Negotiations to Unveil $100bn Development Bank Stall

Disagreements over the presidency and the location of a proposed Brics development bank could further delay its unveiling.

The leaders of the five emerging market economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are expected to sign a deal that creates a $100bn (£59bn, €73bn) bank, alongside an emergency reserve fund of the same size.

The Brics development bank, an idea approved in Durban in 2013 after it was envisaged in New Delhi the previous year, aims to challenge developed nations' dominance over global finance.

However negotiations under way in Fortaleza, Brazil, to create the bank, have hit a hurdle, Reuters reported.

Negotiations have slowed down over a row between China, India and South Africa over who will host the bank.

The discord has also delayed a decision on which of the nations will hold the first five-year presidency of the bank, unnamed negotiators told the news agency.

While Russia's presidential adviser, Yuri Ushakov, has said that Shanghai was the most likely location for the bank's headquarters, earlier whispers from the Kremlin suggested that New Delhi could emerge as a rival to China's financial capital.

If Brics leaders fail to resolve their differences, they could still sign off on the creation of the bank and decide on its headquarters and its president later on.

A delay could be an embarrassment for the Brics nations, which hope to break the West's stranglehold on the world's financial architecture – the US and Japan maintain an iron grip on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

'The Chinese people love peace'

China is also planning an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

In a meeting with Indian Prime Narendra Modi in Brazil on the sidelines of the Brics summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited India to become a founding member of the proposed infrastructure lender, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

The two nations "should join hands in setting global rules...", Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

Meanwhile Xi reportedly told South American media that China seeks to play the role of a responsible major power and promote the rights of the developing world.

The president also dismissed concerns over Chinese domination, saying the world's second-largest economy did not believe it was fated to dominate others just because of its growing might.

"We will ... dedicate ourselves to perfecting the international system of governance and proactively push for expanding the representation and right to speak for developing countries in international affairs," Xi said.

"We will come up with more Chinese proposals and contribute China's wisdom," Xi added, without elaborating.

"The Chinese people love peace. In the blood of the Chinese people there are no genes for invading others or dominating the world. China does not acknowledge the old logic of 'when a country is strong it must dominate'.

"China will resolutely pursue the path of peaceful development, to proactively seek a peaceful international environment for its own development, and will use its own development to promote world peace."