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The BRICS group of emerging economies will hold its ninth summit in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen next month amid various kinds of challenges.
Besides the gloomy economic recovery of some member states in the past two years， the current illegal trespassing of Indian troops into Chinese territory further overshadows the cooperation platform. Thus， skepticism over BRICS has begun to emerge once again， with some asking whether there is still a future for the bloc.
While challenges for the group are apparent， other facts should not be neglected.
The BRICS economy， as a whole， is expanding. In 2016， the average economic growth rate of BRICS nations was 5.1 percent， much higher than the average global growth of 3.1 percent. Over the past decade， the group’s share of global GDP has grown from 12 percent to 23 percent， and today， it contributes more than 50 percent of world economic growth. With such a large economic capacity， no country in the world can ignore BRICS states when they take concerted action on global political and economic issues.
The confidence of BRICS members in the cooperation platform remains strong. Though the platform has a lower profi le than it deserves in the international political discourse in recent years， its internal cohesion has been strengthening over the time. The BRICS bloc is not simply the economic concept it was a decade ago， as its framework and agenda have become comprehensive. In addition to top leaders’ meetings， the group has established more than 30 ministeriallevel mechanisms covering trade， diplomacy， security， culture and anti-terrorism for intergovernmental policy coordination， as well as around 20 non-governmental entities to promote people-to-people exchanges.
The centripetal force for the cooperation platform comes from the identity of BRICS member countries as it is difficult for each BRICS member to make its voice heard in the West-dominated discourse. Thus， their identity as representative emerging economies will grow continually as their common interests coincide. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has put it， the fi ve BRICS economies are like fi ve fi ngers of the same hand. Each fi nger has its own strength， but when they come together， they become a fi st.
China， the leading economy of the group， is making efforts to enlarge imports from its BRICS peers to address trade imbalances within the group， overcoming the common challenges the bloc faces. China recently announced the import of over$8 trillion worth of goods in the coming five years. And in the first half of this year， China’s imports from other BRICS countries increased 33 percent year on year to reach$70.16 billion.
The BRICS cooperation platform has been in place for 10 years and has made remarkable achievements despite numerous difficulties. With gradual improvement of the cooperation mechanism， it is widely expected that the bloc will usher in another new golden decade.
Besides the gloomy economic recovery of some member states in the past two years， the current illegal trespassing of Indian troops into Chinese territory further overshadows the cooperation platform. Thus， skepticism over BRICS has begun to emerge once again， with some asking whether there is still a future for the bloc.
While challenges for the group are apparent， other facts should not be neglected.
The BRICS economy， as a whole， is expanding. In 2016， the average economic growth rate of BRICS nations was 5.1 percent， much higher than the average global growth of 3.1 percent. Over the past decade， the group’s share of global GDP has grown from 12 percent to 23 percent， and today， it contributes more than 50 percent of world economic growth. With such a large economic capacity， no country in the world can ignore BRICS states when they take concerted action on global political and economic issues.
The confidence of BRICS members in the cooperation platform remains strong. Though the platform has a lower profi le than it deserves in the international political discourse in recent years， its internal cohesion has been strengthening over the time. The BRICS bloc is not simply the economic concept it was a decade ago， as its framework and agenda have become comprehensive. In addition to top leaders’ meetings， the group has established more than 30 ministeriallevel mechanisms covering trade， diplomacy， security， culture and anti-terrorism for intergovernmental policy coordination， as well as around 20 non-governmental entities to promote people-to-people exchanges.
The centripetal force for the cooperation platform comes from the identity of BRICS member countries as it is difficult for each BRICS member to make its voice heard in the West-dominated discourse. Thus， their identity as representative emerging economies will grow continually as their common interests coincide. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has put it， the fi ve BRICS economies are like fi ve fi ngers of the same hand. Each fi nger has its own strength， but when they come together， they become a fi st.
China， the leading economy of the group， is making efforts to enlarge imports from its BRICS peers to address trade imbalances within the group， overcoming the common challenges the bloc faces. China recently announced the import of over$8 trillion worth of goods in the coming five years. And in the first half of this year， China’s imports from other BRICS countries increased 33 percent year on year to reach$70.16 billion.
The BRICS cooperation platform has been in place for 10 years and has made remarkable achievements despite numerous difficulties. With gradual improvement of the cooperation mechanism， it is widely expected that the bloc will usher in another new golden decade.