Editor's Note



    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the 15th BRICS Summit being held under the South African Chairmanship. India believes BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system. The article below has been written by Ma Jia, one of China’s top diplomats in India, sharing China’s perspective of BRICS and how India and China have a shared responsibility towards driving the growth of Global South and Southeast Asia.


THE 15TH BRICS Summit is going on in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the first in-person Summit since 2019 and also the third Summit to take place in Africa. Amid the changes and chaos in the global landscape, the five BRICS nations are among the fastest-growing and most vibrant emerging markets and developing countries. The world is expecting the Summit to offer a stronger voice to answer the challenges of our time.


The BRICS partnership was formalised out of the historic tide as emerging markets and developing countries rose collectively. It provides a shining example on how countries of different geographic regions, social systems and civilisational heritage can come together and forge partnership. Its influence has expanded beyond the five nations. It has become a positive, stable and constructive force that promotes world economic growth, improves global governance, and contributes to democracy in international relations.


The world today is undergoing new turbulence and changes. Power politics and bullying are forcing their way. The global economic recovery is facing strong headwinds. The calls for peace, development and cooperation are loud and clear. The aspiration of the developing world to unite is stronger. At the crossroads of this great transformative era, the BRICS nations need to more firmly embrace the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and build a multi-polar world featuring multilateralism, equity and justice.


We need to seize the trend of history, and build a new type of international relations. Hegemony, cold-war mentality, decoupling and bloc confrontation should have no place in the global community. We need to pursue a new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, take forward consultation and cooperation for shared benefits, respect and celebrate diversity of civilisations, and strive for political settlement of international and regional hot-spot issues.


China is ready to work with BRICS partners to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative in a bid to build a community with a shared future for mankind.


We need to act collaboratively to pursue high-quality development. BRICS have established the New Development Bank (NDB), the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, and have launched the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution. The NDB, which provides development funding without any political string attached, has so far approved more than $30 billion in loans for infrastructure projects in developing countries. Going forward, we should further leverage our complementary strengths in industrial structure and resources endowment to further raise the quality of cooperation and make greater contributions to global economic recovery and sustainable development.


We need to be open and inclusive to rally the international community to come together. BRICS is neither a closed club nor an exclusive small circle. In 2017, China proposed an innovative “BRICS Plus” approach to develop an open and diversified network of development partnerships. Since then, more and more countries are knocking on the door of BRICS, aspiring to join the mechanism. This is a testament to the vitality of the BRICS cooperation. This year’s Summit is widely anticipated to make substantive progress in the membership expansion. This will promote a greater role by the BRICS cooperation mechanism in global governance and make the voice of BRICS stronger.


The growing influence of BRICS reflects that the international balance of power is undergoing profound shift, with the Global South gaining a credible voice on the world stage. As the theme of this year’s Summit “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism” indicates, BRICS is striving for giving prominence to the Global South in the world system. We expect that closer cooperation among Global South countries could urge the international community to refocus on development issues, uphold international equity and justice, and increase the say and representation of developing countries in the new round of reforms of the global governance system.


As a natural member of the Global South, China always cares about the well-being of developing countries. Since its founding in 1949, China has provided various types of aid and cooperation projects to over 160 developing countries. In recent years, China set up the Global Development Promotion Center and established the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund. These actions will further benefit developing countries in their strive for economic growth and modernisation.


Being the world’s largest developing countries, China and India are close partners in safeguarding the rights and interests of the Global South and promoting South-South cooperation. We need to work together to put into action our vision of “a community with a shared future for mankind” and “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family)". We need to cooperate with developing countries in more priority areas to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, so that the countries of the Global South could move forward side by side towards development and rejuvenation.


As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “With one heart and one mind, we can accomplish everything we aspire for.” China stands ready to strengthen unity with India and other BRICS nations to foster a more comprehensive, close, practical and inclusive high-quality partnership, and make greater contributions to the peace and common development of the world.


The author is the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Chinese Embassy in India



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