Dialogue on governance is expected to feature prominently in BRICS cooperation, which involves Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Executive Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, underlined

Promoting exchange of governance experience is an important consensus of BRICS leaders, to which President Xi Jinping attaches great importance. Xi has stressed the need to enhance mutual understanding, exchanges and learning on a number of occasions. The BRICS Seminar on Governance is a concrete step taken to put the leaders’ consensus into practice as well as a major event within the framework of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen in early September.

Over the past decade, BRICS cooperation has borne abundant fruit. A multi-level and all-dimensional cooperative framework led by the summit and covering a variety of areas has taken shape. The five BRICS countries are becoming a community of common interests and joint action characterized by solidarity and collaboration for shared progress. Today, BRICS cooperation has flourished to assume an increasingly greater status and role in the international community.

The reasons are at least three-fold: (1) We have given depth and substance to our cooperation in keeping with the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and winwin cooperation; (2) We have been active in promoting the reform of global governance, safeguarding international fairness and justice and helping increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries; (3) We have given top priority to development, improved national governance and made every effort to raise people’s living standards and advance their well-being.

Against the backdrop of a fragile world economic recovery, BRICS countries have scored an eye-catching performance with their great development potential. Their combined GDP accounts for nearly a quarter of the global total. Also, the group’s contribu- tion to world economic growth exceeds 50 percent. It’s no exaggeration to say that they are the economic bellwether of the world.

Given their own national conditions, the countries have put in place governance systems and state policies in line with their respective realities. They have found their own development paths while gaining valuable governance experience in the process. In China, for instance, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, President Xi has proposed a series of new concepts, thoughts and strategies on governance based on the national conditions and development practices of contemporary China. These have helped bring about historic changes in the undertakings of the CPC and the state. implementing a comprehensive framework for promoting the rule of law and launching an all-out effort to enforce strict Party discipline. The strategy has become the master plan for China’s governance.

It has also called for establishing and implementing new development concepts centered on innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, providing scientific guidelines for China’s economic and social progress.