The program of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit will be reduced to one day at China's request, the Russian President's press-secretary said.
Nataliya Timakova said that the forum participants were sympathetic to the fact that Chinese President Hu Jintao wished to return to China because of a powerful earthquake that struck the country on Wednesday, killing up to 600.
"Russia like other BRIC participants has already declared it is ready to provide all necessary assistance to China to deal with the impact of the disaster," Timakova said, adding that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will still meet today with his Chinese counterpart, as originally planned.
A magnitude 7.1 quake, the strongest to strike the country in nearly two years, hit western China's Qinghai province near Tibet on Wednesday morning and was followed by three quakes in the same area.
The BRIC summit began on Wednesday in the town of Brasilia in Brazil. It aims to improve of the current global economic situation and strengthen cooperation between the four countries.
BUENOS AIRES, April 15 (RIA Novosti)
