BRICS cooperation continues making new progress

By Guan Kejiang, Wang Hailin, Ding Xuezhen, Zhang Yuannan

The 11th BRICS summit is scheduled to be held on Nov. 13 and 14 in Brasilia, capital of Brazil. Themed “BRICS: Economic Growth for an Innovative Future”, the summit is expected to promote more solid progress of the BRICS cooperation, so as to chart the course for and inject new impetus to jointly safeguarding international justice and improving global governance.

The BRICS cooperation enjoys huge potential. In recent years, the total GDP of the five countries has accounted for an increasingly larger proportion of the world economy, and they are contributing 50 percent to the global economic growth.

The BRICS cooperation has improved the life quality for over 3 billion people and raised the international status and role of emerging markets and developing countries.

Economic cooperation has always been the focus and foundation of the BRICS mechanism. At the BRICS Xiamen Summit held in 2017, the BRICS economies have reached more than 30 results of pragmatic cooperation, institutionalized and substantiated cooperation in various sectors, and continued to enhance the performance of BRICS cooperation.

The five countries have formulated the BRICS Trade in Services Cooperation Roadmap, the Outlines for BRICS Investment Facilitation, the BRICS E-Commerce Cooperation Initiative, the BRICS Action Plan for Innovation Cooperation and the Action Plan for Deepening Industrial Cooperation Among BRICS Countries, launched the African Regional Center of the New Development Bank (NDB), and decided to set up the BRICS Model E-Port Network.

The 10th BRICS Summit held last year in Johannesburg, South Africa carried forward the consensus reached at the Xiamen Summit and nailed down a blueprint for future cooperation. The meeting officially approved the initiative of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution proposed by China and South Africa and set related work in motion.

The purpose of the initiative is to accelerate economic upgrading and the replacement of growth drivers with joint efforts under the cooperation in digitalization, industrialization, innovation, inclusive growth, and investment.

In the past year, the construction of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution has made gratifying progress.

It conforms to the general trend to reinforce BRICS cooperation and the upcoming summit will further enhance the influence of the BRICS countries, said Sameep Shastri, member of governing body of India’s BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

He added that the huge potential of the BRICS countries is non-negligible when the five major emerging economies gather together on the world stage.

The BRICS countries are committed to upholding global peace and contributing to the building of the international security order.

The BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration released during the Xiamen Summit includes 71 items, 25 of which are related to international peace and security. It indicates the consistent efforts made by the BRICS countries to strengthen communication and coordination on major international and regional issues.

The philosophy of BRICS cooperation has gained growing appreciation and endorsement, and it has become a constructive energy in promoting greater democracy in international relations.

The development experience of China and other BRRICS countries sets a good example of maintaining peace and tranquility for the rest of the world, said Shamshad Akhtar, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

As a cooperation platform with global influence, BRICS cooperation goes beyond the five countries. It carries the expectations of emerging markets and developing countries, and even the international community at large.

“We should expand the coverage of BRICS cooperation and deliver its benefits to more people,” said Chinese President at the Business Forum right before the Xiamen Summit, adding that the BRICS countries should promote the “BRICS Plus” cooperation approach and build an open and diversified network of development partnerships to get more emerging market and developing countries involved in their concerted endeavors for cooperation and mutual benefits.

During the Xiamen Summit, China held the Dialogues of Emerging Market and Developing Countries, where leaders of Egypt, Mexico, Tajikistan, Guinea and Thailand were invited to join the BRICS leaders in strengthening South-South cooperation.

Following the model of the Xiamen Summit, the Johannesburg Summit also invited delegates from emerging market economies and developing countries including African countries to attend the BRICS outreach dialogue meeting, which further broadened the BRICS “circle of friends”.

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Faced with unprecedented opportunities and challenges, more and more countries are expecting the BRICS economies to add new impetus and inject positive energy to the international community.

It is believed that the 11th BRICS Summit will achieve a great success under the joint efforts of all parties and the leadership of the five countries.

The BRICS countries will inevitably make greater contributions to promoting world peace and development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Source: People’s Daily