Balancing power

The international order has undergone a profound evolution since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. The economic status and strength of emerging economies, including the BRICS, has risen rapidly. Emerging economies have become an important force in improving the international governance system and promoting a fairer and more just world order. Whether the BRICS can maintain high-speed growth will not be a decisive factor in their participation in international governance.

Since the establishment of the BRICS mechanism, the five countries have set up a comprehensive system for cooperation on the basis of equal consultation. Their cooperation encompasses both political and economic arenas. Together, they have set up the New Develop- ment Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement. They have also coordinated positions and actions on major international affairs. The NDB has begun to fund projects in BRICS countries, meaning that cooperation within the group has become institutionalized. The comprehensive cooperation among the BRICS members has helped consolidate mutual understanding and support among the people of the five countries and promoted integration.

The challenges currently facing the BRICS are really the two sides of the same coin. The obstacles to economic development may turn out to be driving forces for political cooperation. For instance, as the international security environment worsens and encumbers global economic recovery, emerging economies, including the BRICS, share a common interest in reversing this unfavorable trend.

BRICS countries vary in terms of development levels. The global economic downturn further amplifies these differences and simultaneously provides new cooperation potential. For instance, the status quo of development in India is similar to that in China in the late 1990s. Many Indian officials and scholars advocate using China’s development experience as a learning opportunity.

There have always been naysayers critical of the BRICS and China, even before the global financial crisis. However, the influence of the BRICS is continually growing. In the past several years, the five countries have contributed more than 50 percent of global growth. Currently, they combine to account for more than 20 percent of global GDP, and the proportion is expected to rise to about 25 percent by 2020. The upcoming BRICS Summit, to be held in India in October, is likely to deliver more fruitful benefits for the future development of this important mechanism of cooperation.

(The author is a research fellow with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)

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