BRICS buildup

Summit in South Africa evinced the deepening solidarity of the Global South

The 15th BRICS Summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Aug 22 to 24. It marked the historic expansion of the group, which will have a profound impact on the BRICS mechanism, the Global South and even the international landscape.

As the world is facing growing development and security challenges, unity and cooperation are the common demands of developing countries. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, developing countries have faced increasing pressure to choose sides in international politics, which has triggered a new boom for the Global South, reflecting the developing countries' dissatisfaction with the current international order. In a world of turmoil and transformation, how to find a position that is in line with their own interests in the existing international system has become a strategic consideration for them.

The expansion of BRICS brings new opportunities for the group's development. Before this year's summit, more than 40 countries had expressed an interest in joining BRICS and over 20 countries had formally applied for membership in the group. This demonstrated the vitality, attractiveness and strategic value of the BRICS cooperation mechanism in international affairs. At the summit, BRICS leaders overcame their internal differences and reached a consensus on the expansion guidelines of admission to BRICS, and invited Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to be new members from Jan 1, 2024.

In essence, the BRICS mechanism is inclusive. BRICS states uphold true multilateralism and adopt the principle of equality and consensus, which is in sharp contrast to the exclusive mechanisms of the Western countries and it has become a major reason for many countries wanting to join BRICS. The summit reflected BRICS' growing influence in leading the Global South. The five founding members of BRICS account for about 40 percent of the world's population, and their GDP and trade take up about one-fourth and one-fifth of the world's total respectively. In purchasing power parity terms, BRICS took a larger share of global economic activity than the G7 in 2022. Emerging markets and developing countries have contributed as much as 80 percent of the world's economic growth over the past two decades, and their global share of GDP has increased from 24 percent to more than 40 percent over the past 40 years. The rise of these emerging markets and developing countries is redrawing the world map.

One of the fundamental values of the BRICS countries is to work together to restructure the global political, economic and financial architectures to make them more equitable, balanced and representative. In recent years, many countries have argued that the US dollar's dominance in the global financial system has hindered their economic growth. In particular, interest rate increases in the United States and other developed economies have led to currency devaluations, higher inflation and sharp declines in export earnings in developing regions such as Africa, which in turn have had a serious impact on national economic and social stability. BRICS is seen as a potential counterweight to the Western financial hegemony. The BRICS heads of state actively seek "de-dollarization". The BRICS countries are making greater use of their own currencies, exploring the possibility of "a unified currency for BRICS" and pushing forward reform of the international financial and monetary system.

China showed its responsibility as a great power at the summit. The China-South Africa partnership is a good example of BRICS cooperation. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Ahead of the summit, the two sides released a joint statement and signed 25 cooperation documents and financing projects worth $2.2 billion. These projects will support South Africa's exports of manufactured goods to China, and improve its power supply and financial services.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of China putting forward its Africa policy featuring sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith. Over the past 10 years, China-Africa cooperation has seen rapid development and China has been Africa's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, the largest financier of infrastructure, its largest international contractor, its investor with the fastest FDI growth, and its major international development partner. China has played an important role in supporting Africa's economic and social development and transformation.

However, in recent years, African countries have faced severe development challenges as a result of multiple overlapping shocks. It is an important agenda for China's cooperation with Africa to support the latter in meeting challenges and achieving national development and transformation. Focusing on the immediate challenges and urgent needs of African countries, at the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, China put forward the Initiative on Supporting Africa's Industrialization, the Plan for China Supporting Africa's Agricultural Modernization, and the Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development. The Chinese side plans to expand cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, new energy and digital economy to help Africa achieve economic integration, industrialization and agricultural modernization.

Next year, the meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will propose more systematic planning and initiatives for their cooperation.

In a word, the BRICS Summit in South Africa was an important event marking the solidarity of countries of the Global South in a world experiencing a period of turbulence and change. The BRICS expansion reflects the trend of the times and the long-cherished desire of the Global South for unity and growth. This will further promote BRICS states and countries in the Global South to become a major force shaping the international landscape, and will make a more positive contribution to global governance and world peace and development.

The author is a senior research fellow and deputy director at the Center for West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.