Rajiv Biswas,

Asia-Pacific chief economist, IHS Markit

1Key examples of how BRICS nations can lead international trade and investment liberalization are China’s active role in advancing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade negotiations among 16 Asia-Pacific nations, as well as its strategic plan to boost economic cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative. BRICS nations have also established the New Development Bank in 2014 to finance infrastructure development in developing countries worldwide. BRICS can champion new initiatives to boost South-South trade and investment flows.

2The five BRICS nations currently account for approximately 23 percent of world GDP, making these nations an important part of the world economy. China, as the world’s secondlargest economy, has been the key driver for sustained global economic growth since the global financial crisis of 20082009, accounting for around 40 percent of the total increase in world GDP since 2009. The BRICS, led by China, have also been a key driver for growth in world trade and investment flows over the past decade.

3Ever since the end of World War II, global governance has been dominated by the developed countries. However, the world has changed tremendously since 1945, with many former European colonies having become sovereign developing nations, while the world share of GDP contributed by developing countries has approximately doubled within the last two decades. Consequently the old global governance architecture is no longer relevant and the BRICS need to lead the initiative to create a fairer system of global governance by working together to change existing governance structures in international bodies, as well as to create new international standards-setting bodies that have a modern governance structure with much stronger voting rights for developing countries.

4The BRICS need to further strengthen their joint initiatives for boosting international trade and economic development. The BRICS countries can act as a core group to build policy frameworks and technological cooperation for a wide range of global South-South development initiatives. One of the greatest challenges facing developing countries is global climate change and meeting the Paris climate change agreement commitments.

5China’s economic development since 1978 has been remarkable, lifting it within just one generation from a poor nation based on subsistence agriculture into the world’s second-largest economy that has reached upper middle income status and has become an advanced industrial economy. The Belt and Road Initiative is a great strategic vision through which China is helping many developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East to accelerate their economic development through improving infrastructure connectivity. Over the longterm, China’s successful experience of rapid economic development will allow it to help other developing countries in many areas of development.