As Chinese President Xi Jinping and a host of other \u200eleaders gather in Kazan, Russia, for the 16th BRICS summit, \u200ethe world is once again turning its limelight on the \u200eburgeoning international mechanism for how it will push \u200eforward self-development and respond to global woes. \u200e<\/p>\n
\u00a0A steadfast champion of BRICS cooperation, Xi once \u200ecompared its five members back then to the five fingers \u200eof one hand: They are short and long if extended, but form \u200ea powerful fist if clenched together. Now that hand has \u200egrown bigger and stronger, as its membership expanded \u200elast year, yet the essence of Xi’s metaphor is just \u200ebecoming more relevant. \u200e<\/p>\n
\u200e\u00a0\u00a0 With the world trudging on in a new period of \u200eturbulence and transformation, the leader of the largest \u200edeveloping country is poised to help guide BRICS, the \u200eleading echelon of the Global South, to play a bigger role \u200ein building a better shared future for humanity.\u200e<\/p>\n
\u200e\u00a0\u00a0 GOLDEN VALUE<\/strong><\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, \u200eand South Africa, is literally called “gold bricks” in \u200eChinese, indicating optimism for its great potential and \u200eshining future.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e This aerial photo taken on Sept. 28, 2021 shows the headquarters building of New Development Bank (NDB) in east China’s Shanghai. (Xinhua\/Fang Zhe)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 The sanguine view features prominently in Xi’s \u200eengagement with the group. He has consistently placed \u200eBRICS high on China’s foreign policy agenda. His first \u200eappearance on the multilateral stage as China’s head of \u200estate was at the 2013 BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, \u200eand he visited all other four BRICS countries during the \u200efirst two years of his presidency. \u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 “China led by President Xi Jinping has contributed \u200esignificantly to the success of BRICS,” noted Bunn Nagara, \u200ea senior China researcher in Malaysia.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks to the joint efforts of its members, the golden \u200evalue of BRICS has kept rising. World Bank data show that \u200ethe share of BRICS in global GDP grew from 18 percent in \u200e\u200e2010 to about 26 percent in 2021, with increases in all \u200eyears during the period. \u200e<\/p>\n Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the extraordinary joint meeting of BRICS leaders and leaders of invited BRICS members on the situation in the Middle East with particular reference to Gaza on Nov. 21, 2023. (Xinhua\/Huang Jingwen)<\/em><\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Among the drivers of its remarkable growth is a strong \u200eorientation toward real results. “BRICS is not a talking \u200eshop, but a task force that gets things done,” Xi once \u200estressed. \u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Following this spirit, practical cooperation has \u200ealways been the foundation of the BRICS mechanism, a good \u200eexample of which is the launch of the New Development Bank \u200e\u200e(NDB). Headquartered in Shanghai, the multilateral \u200einstitution had approved 105 projects in all member \u200ecountries for approximately 35 billion U.S. dollars by \u200ethe end of 2023.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 In view of BRICS’ evolving development needs, Xi, at \u200ethe 2017 summit in China’s coastal city of Xiamen, joined \u200eother member leaders in formally incorporating cultural \u200eand people-to-people exchanges into the engines of BRICS \u200ecooperation, in order to further enhance the bond between \u200ethese nations and reinforce the foundation of BRICS \u200einteraction.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Powered by the three engines, namely political and \u200esecurity, economic and financial, as well as cultural and \u200epeople-to-people exchanges, the BRICS cooperation has \u200ewitnessed even more substantial progress and growing \u200epopular support.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200eA visitor views a model of Xiamen Metro train at the exhibition of BRICS New Industrial Revolution 2024 in Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province, Sept. 10, 2024. (Xinhua\/Lin Shanchuan)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 The unique value of the BRICS cooperation goes beyond \u200eeconomic terms, and the mechanism is an innovation of \u200einternational cooperation, which is in marked contrast \u200eto some protectionist, exclusive political, military or \u200eeconomic alliances in the West, said Wang Lei, director \u200eof the BRICS Cooperation Research Center at Beijing \u200eNormal University.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 In Xi’s words, the BRICS cooperation transcends the \u200eold formula of political and military alliances, the old \u200emindset of drawing lines on the basis of ideology as well \u200eas the obsolete notion of “you-win-I-lose” and \u200e\u200e”winner-takes-all.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 The golden track record, as many observers have \u200epointed out, has not only amply busted various \u200egloom-and-doom claims such as that BRICS is nothing but \u200e\u200e”a motley crew,” but also significantly increased its \u200eappeal to the rest of the world.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 GREATER BRICS<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 On Aug. 24 morning last year, the Sandton Convention \u200eCenter in Johannesburg erupted with applause upon the \u200eannouncement of BRICS’ historic expansion. That, Xi said \u200eat the press conference, demonstrates “the determination \u200eof BRICS countries and developing nations to unite.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Since the inception of the BRICS mechanism, openness \u200eand inclusiveness have remained its members’ abiding \u200ecommitment. Xi has repeatedly emphasized that BRICS \u200ecountries gather not in a closed club or an exclusive \u200ecircle. “A tree cannot make a forest,” he said as early \u200eas at his BRICS summit debut in<\/p>\n A villager washes utensils at a water supply pipeline at village Gora in Bhopal, capital of India’s Madhya Pradesh state, June 22, 2022. The rural water supply project is funded by the New Development Bank. (Xinhua)<\/em><\/p>\n Durban in 2013. A year \u200elater at the Fortaleza summit in Brazil, he proposed the \u200e\u200e”BRICS spirit” of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win \u200ecooperation.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 With such an open mind, the group developed a tradition \u200eof inviting leaders of other countries to its summits. \u200eThen at the 2017 gathering in Xiamen, an ancient port city \u200ethat has evolved into a dynamic hub in China’s opening-up \u200eand reform, Xi built on that outreach practice and put \u200eforward the “BRICS Plus” program, encouraging more \u200eparticipation of other emerging markets and developing \u200enations.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, this southern Chinese city of Xiamen happened \u200eto be where Xi came to work as deputy mayor in 1985 at \u200e\u200e32. Now, under Xi’s initiative, an innovation base for \u200ethe BRICS partnership on the new industrial revolution \u200ehas taken root there.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e Young Chinese and Russians perform on stage in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 22, 2024. The annual launch of “UPanda Cinema” and the BRICS film and cultural exchange event is participated by over 900 representatives from media organizations, film institutions, and youth groups of BRICS countries. (Xinhua\/Bai Xueqi)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 Over the years, with profound changes reshaping the \u200eworld at a degree rarely seen in history, the Chinese \u200epresident has unwaveringly championed openness and \u200ecooperation. “Under the new circumstances, it is all the \u200emore important for BRICS countries to pursue development \u200ewith open doors and boost cooperation with open arms,” \u200eXi said at the 14th BRICS summit in 2022.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 A year later, more than 60 countries gathered in \u200eJohannesburg for the BRICS summit. The gathering “is not \u200ean exercise of asking countries to take sides, nor an \u200eexercise of creating bloc confrontation,” Xi said. \u200e\u200e”Rather, it is an endeavor to expand the architecture of \u200epeace and development.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Other than the countries that became new full members \u200eon Jan. 1, 2024, more than 30 nations have also formally \u200eapplied to join BRICS, while many other developing \u200ecountries are seeking deeper cooperation with the group.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 “There is a reason why these countries choose to join \u200eBRICS,” said Mekhri Aliev, a board director of the BRICS \u200einnovation base in Xiamen. “Because they see future, they \u200esee potentials and opportunities within the BRICS.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 BIGGER VOICE<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Three months after its expansion decision, BRICS \u200econvened an extraordinary joint summit on the Gaza \u200esituation with leaders of invited members, as well as UN \u200eSecretary-General Antonio Guterres. That was a \u200efirst-of-its-kind meeting for the group. The meeting, as \u200eXi said, marks “a good start” for greater BRICS \u200ecooperation following its enlargement.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Commenting on this summit, Al Jazeera said that \u200eleading countries of the Global South are looking for “a \u200egreater say in a global order dominated by the West.” \u200eSteven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute \u200eof International Affairs, said: “It does reflect on the \u200egrowing assertiveness and confidence of the BRICS \u200egrouping, not waiting for the West.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 BRICS is an important force in shaping the \u200einternational landscape. Advancing a more just and \u200eequitable international order has been a consistent theme \u200ein Xi’s remarks on BRICS cooperation.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Effective coordination between BRICS members and \u200eother Global South countries is “adding more bricks to \u200ethe global governance architecture,” said Wang Lei, the \u200eChinese expert with Beijing Normal University.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 The New Development Bank (NDB) exemplifies this effort. \u200e\u200e”The establishment of the bank serves as a beneficial \u200esupplement and improvement to the existing financial \u200esystem,” Xi said, “which can encourage deeper reflection \u200eand more active reforms in the global financial system.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 During a meeting with Dilma Rousseff, former Brazilian \u200ePresident and incumbent NDB chief, in Beijing in 2023, \u200eXi called on the NDB to help with the modernization of \u200emore developing countries. Rousseff shares Xi’s vision. \u200e\u200e”It is a vision that we don’t want BRICS to speak just \u200efor a few countries. What we want is for most countries \u200eto be part of BRICS,” she told Xinhua.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 As Xi has observed, strengthening global governance \u200eis the right choice if the international community \u200eintends to share development opportunities and tackle \u200eglobal challenges.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 “Economically, non-Western nations — with BRICS at \u200ethe vanguard — are pushing the globe into a new reality: \u200eAn emerging economic, social, and monetary status quo \u200ethat is upending what the world has accepted as normal \u200efor nearly eight decades,” Jeff D. Opdyke, a global \u200einvestment expert, has observed.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 To Guan Zhaoyu, a research fellow with the Eurasian \u200eStudies Institute at Renmin University of China, BRICS \u200ecooperation “is neither anti-Western nor aimed at \u200eoverthrowing the existing global order, but rather \u200econstructively reforming its unfair aspects to give more \u200eopportunities to the developing world.”\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 Xi maintains that development is an inalienable right \u200eof all countries, not a privilege of a few countries. \u200eUnder his grand vision to build a community with a shared \u200efuture for mankind, China has been joining hands with \u200eother developing countries in advancing their respective \u200emodernization.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 China will always be a member of the Global South and \u200ethe developing world, Xi has said on various occasions.\u200e<\/p>\n \u200e\u00a0\u00a0 “President Xi has sent out a very clear message: China \u200ewill unite with other emerging markets and developing \u200ecountries in the process of global modernization and make \u200esure no one is left behind,” said Guan.\u200e<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Brick](\"https:\/\/media.mehrnews.com\/d\/2024\/10\/23\/4\/5219024.jpg?ts=1729700230886\")
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