BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Global South should strengthen themselves, stand together in unity, and strive for development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday.

"The hallmark of our era is the prominent, growing strength of the Global South," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the national legislature.

Accounting over 40 percent of global GDP and contributing as high as 80 percent of global growth, the Global South is a key force for maintaining world peace, driving world development, and improving global governance, according to Wang.

"The Global South holds the key to bringing stability to the world and making it a better place," Wang said.

Noting that Indonesia became a full member of BRICS at the beginning of the year, and nine partner countries have joined the BRICS family, Wang said BRICS is emerging as a backbone of cooperation and an engine of growth in the Global South.

This year, China will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Brazil the BRICS summit, and South Africa the G20 summit. "We should speak in one voice to the world, safeguard our common interests, and steadily increase our representation and voice in global governance," he said.

"We should keep development as a central item of international agenda, build up the momentum, enhance our capacity, and advance hand in hand toward modernization," Wang said.