BRICS ‘needs fresh focus’
Experts consider bloc’s future as it prepares for its annual meeting in Xiamen. Andrew Moody reports
BRICS, the grouping of five emerging nations, needs to develop a new agenda for its next stage of development, according to experts.
China, which took over the chairmanship of the organisation in January, will host its 9th Summit in Xiamen, Fujian province, from Sept 3 to 5.
The major achievements of the organisation, which was formed in 2006 and includes South Africa as well as founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China, have been the launch of the New Development Bank, based in Shanghai; and the setting up of the CRA, or the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, a financial mechanism that protects members against fluctuations in their currencies.
Sanusha Naidu, Cape Town-based senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue, a South African think tank, said BRICS needs new projects and initiatives to give it new direction.
“There is a lot of speculation as to what is going to come after the bank and CRA, and whether we are going to see similar types of initiatives that will complement them,” she said.
Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies and director of the Lau Institute at King’s College, London, agrees the organisation needs new impetus if it is to remain relevant.
“BRICS was a popular idea some years ago but it now needs to be revivified and given a new shape and mission. So Xiamen is the best option for doing this, because it will at least give it some profile and also supply some new ideas.”
The summit follows the one in Goa, India, last October, where issues such as climate change, sustainable development goals, counter-terrorism and global governance were high on the agenda.
In Xiamen, a 14-kilometre-long island city with a population of 4 million off China’s east coast, the overarching main theme is “BRICS: Stronger partnership for a brighter future”.
Again, global governance that better reflects the interests of emerging market nations is high on the agenda. Other topics include strengthening the economic partnership between the member nations as well as reform of the global financial architecture.
Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based think tank, believes BRICS can be very effective in delivering a clear message in this area.
“It can be very influential in proposing a very definite pro-globalisation, pro-free trade agenda. It is actually quite a considerable bloc accounting for a large proportion of world trade.
“It is in a better position to do this than the G20, which is too unwieldy an organisation to do this.”
The summit is also the first since China held its Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation in Beijing in May.
Some believe that China is now more focused on its own major initiative and also on the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, which was set up at the beginning of last year.
He Weiwen, a former commercial counselor in the Chinese consulates-general in San Francisco and New York, believes there is no need for any clash between the two as far as China is concerned.
“BRICS, on the contrary, could be a good pathway for the goals of Belt and Road Initiative to be achieved. The New Development Bank, for instance, will complement the AIIB for the initiative because BRICS covers more than just Asia.”
Brown at the Lau Institute believes BRICS as a grouping remains useful to China. “China has been creating as much infrastructure as possible. BRI is one strand of this but BRICS complements this because it embraces partners not strictly along the Belt and Road rubric — South Africa and Brazil, for instance,” he said.
Rana Mitter, director of the Dickson Poon Oxford University China Centre, said close observers of the summit will be looking for clues as to what the future relationship between BRI and BRICS will be.
“Where BRICS fits in for China is a genuinely interesting question. A lot of people will be looking to see whether the BRICS agenda and that of the BRI will coalesce.”
At the seventh meeting of the BRICS trade ministers in Shanghai on Aug 1 and 2, creating an e-commerce platform with co-operation in such areas as payment and logistics was discussed, and this could result in firm proposals at the summit.
“This is something that makes a lot of sense and could lead to growing e-commerce between the countries, which will particularly benefit SMEs, in particular,” added Wang, who is also a counselor to the State Council, or China’s cabinet.
Where BRICS fits in for China is a genuinely interesting question. A lot of people will be looking to see whether the BRICS agenda and that of the BRI will coalesce.” RANA MITTER DIRECTOR OF THE DICKSON POON OXFORD UNIVERSITY CHINA CENTRE