Spotlight: BRICS nations stride on for next decade of cooperation

The emerging-market bloc of BRICS concluded their 8th summit Sunday under the theme of "Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions" after issuing a joint declaration and signing cooperation agreements and MoUs.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the BRICS cooperation mechanism, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Though confronted by the global financial crisis and the ensuing economic downturn, the five countries made remarkable achievement in the past 10 years. Looking to the next decade, the BRICS leaders stressed their resolves to cement confidence and act jointly for development in the GOA Declaration.

MATURING BRICS COOPERATION MECHANISM

The GOA Declaration reviewed the achievements made after last year's Ufa summit in Russia, especially the progress of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the initiation of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) that has beefed up the global financial safety network.

According to a report of NDB President Kundapur Vaman Kamath, the first batch of loans by the bank has been approved to fund renewable energy projects in the BRICS countries, the proposal for setting up a regional office in African is being reviewed, the first set of green bonds in RMB has been issued and the BRICS CRA initiated.

In the past year, the economic cooperation mechanism has been consolidated, and intra-BRICS cooperation on e-commerce, intellectual property rights, trade promotion, and small and micro enterprise have been strengthened.

The five nations also agreed to further boost cooperation in the fields of insurance and reinsurance, taxation reform, customs, and to explore the possibility of setting up a BRICS rating agency based on independent and market-oriented principles.

The BRICS nations have also conducted communication and consultations and made substantial progress in the fields of agriculture, information technology, disaster management, environment preservation, protection of women and children's rights, youth, tourism, education, technology and culture.

STICKING TO OPEN ECONOMY, SEEKING COMMON DEVELOPMENT

The international press center of the GOA summit has been filled with journalists from more than just the five countries during the summit, as the gathering of the leading emerging economies, which have been the major locomotive of world growth amid an increasingly austere economic environment, has been gaining increasing global attention.

Indeed the languid recovery after the world economic crisis daunted both the developed and developing countries. Economic globalization is suffering setbacks, protectionism and inward-looking trends are on the rise, and the multilateral trading regime is under pressure. As a case in point, the Britons earlier this year voted to exit from the European Union, delivering a heavy blow to the European integration.

Despite these challenges, the BRICS leaders vowed to cement confidence and confront challenges to seek common development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that the BRICS countries advance structural reforms, innovate growth patterns, and build up an open economy.

Warning against protectionism, Xi said the BRICS countries should take the lead in opening-up and international cooperation by prioritizing such sectors as economy and trade, financial circulation, infrastructure connectivity and people-to-people exchanges.

Commenting on the proposals, Varaprasad S. Dolla, a professor from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Xinhua that one of the key highlights of President Xi's speech was the importance he gave to BRICS for the global growth as well as the role BRICS plays in the world economy.

This summit is about "Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions," and the BRICS countries should open their economies more for their sustainable development, he said, adding that Intra-BRICS trade should be facilitated by all member countries to increase trade volumes.

SAFEGUARDING FAIRNESS AND JUSTICE, FACING GLOBAL CHALLENGES TOGETHER

Besides economic issue, the BRICS nations also expounded their stance on international and regional issues of common concern, including those concerning the United Nations, the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, the Palestinian territories and Afghanistan.

To safeguard fairness and justice, it is suggested that the five countries address issues based on the merit of each particular case while adhering to the fundamental principals of the UN Charter.

That will help the BRICS nations remain the participants, propellants and leaders in the process of global governance reform, help adjust the development of world orders to a more just direction, and continue to boost the representations and say of emerging economies and developing countries on the global stage.

The bloc also agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating international terrorism and welcomed the Paris Agreement and its imminent entry into force on Nov. 4 on environment protection, while addressing such issues as climate change and control of epidemics.

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development depicts a blueprint and perspective for global development, and the G20 summit held last month in the Chinese eastern city of Hangzhou helped create a roadmap for turning the blueprint into reality.

The BRICS nations are the most important engine for world economic growth and will be the backbone for materializing such perspectives. On the way of development, the BRICS nations are forming a joint force and making a unified voice, while providing new solutions for fueling economic growth and optimizing global governance.

Through strengthening North-South and South-South cooperation, the BRICS is expected to inject new vitality, open new dimension for international development and cooperation, and drive the world development in a robust, sustainable, balanced and inclusive way.

Next year China will hold the rotating chair of BRICS and host its ninth summit in its southeastern city of Xiamen. By then, China looks forward to working with all parties to implement the consensuses reached at previous summits and write a new chapter for the BRICS cooperation, said President Xi. Endit