JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- A series of cultural and people-to-people exchange activities on BRICS cooperation were recently held in South Africa, with participants expressing the expectation that BRICS members can jointly contribute wisdom and strength to promoting a human community with a shared future through the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative.

The BRICS is an acronym for five emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. South Africa assumed the BRICS presidency on Jan. 1, 2023, and the 15th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held on Aug. 22-24 in Johannesburg, the largest city in the country.

The BRICS Seminar on Governance and Cultural Exchange Forum 2023 was held in Johannesburg Saturday. Under the theme of "Implementing the Global Civilization Initiative, Joining Hands on the March Toward Modernization," the forum attracted more than 100 participants from all five BRICS countries.

Noting that global challenges are emerging one after another, experts and scholars present at the forum said there is an urgent need to strengthen global solidarity and cooperation and to reform and improve the global governance system.

The BRICS Summit is expected to promote the building of a high-quality partnership among member states, and pool more strength to advance South-South cooperation and build a human community with a shared future, said the participants.

Highlighting the importance of the Global Civilization Initiative, they said all the countries should uphold the vision of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and enhance international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, so as to advance humanity's modernization process toward a brighter future.

The Sixth BRICS Media Forum, co-hosted by Xinhua News Agency and the China Energy Investment Corporation as well as organizations from South Africa, was held in Johannesburg at the weekend. About 200 representatives from around 100 media outlets, think tanks and international organizations from about 30 countries participated and held discussions under the theme of "BRICS and Africa: Strengthening Media Dialogue for a Shared and Unbiased Future."

Since its establishment in 2015, the BRICS Media Forum has become an important platform to enhance the voice of BRICS countries, said the participants.

The diverse cultures of the BRICS nations enrich the global conversations, said the representatives, adding that the BRICS media have demonstrated that the media should be committed to promoting world development, jointly advancing the building of a more just and equitable international order.

Other cultural and people-to-people exchange activities, including the South Africa-China film festival and the launching ceremony of the BRICS TV "TV China Theater," were also held in South Africa from Thursday to Saturday.