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Wang Youming: Why do so many countries line up to join the BRICS?

author:Globe.com

Source: Global Times

The BRICS "Year of China" is coming to an end, with more than 170 activities and 37 major achievements throughout the year. BRICS cooperation has reached a new height, and mechanism building is full of vitality and momentum. Correspondingly, the appeal and attractiveness of BRICS have increased unprecedentedly, Argentina, Iran, Algeria and other countries have officially applied to join the BRICS, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and other countries are also interested in joining, many countries have set off a "tide of joining the BRICS", which has undoubtedly become a major highlight of the BRICS "Year of China".

So many countries are eager to integrate into the BRICS mechanism, and although each has its own considerations, some distinctive elements of the BRICS are the common reasons that attract these countries to join.

First, the unique role positioning of the BRICS mechanism. The uniqueness of the role positioning of the BRICS is manifested in two aspects: on the one hand, unlike the role positioning of the "small courtyard high wall", "exclusivity" and "decoupling" of the US and Western alliance system, the BRICS mechanism has been clear from the beginning of its establishment that it is not only a cooperation mechanism that pursues the interests of member countries themselves, but also a cooperation mechanism based on the interests of the vast number of developing countries. This kind of role positioning is rare on the international stage today, fully demonstrating the foresight of the BRICS leaders' top-level design, and this inclusive and open role positioning has laid the conceptual foundation and organizational structure for the future expansion and expansion of BRICS. On the other hand, at the beginning of its establishment, the BRICS mechanism also made it clear that the BRICS mechanism is not an overthrower but a promoter of the international order, that is, the original intention of the BRICS mechanism lies in the "three noes" - not starting from scratch, not engaging in camp confrontation with the Western bloc, and not wanting to replace anyone and move whose cake. It is precisely because of this role positioning that some emerging and developing countries can apply to join the BRICS with confidence without the pressure to choose sides.

Second, the BRICS mechanism pursues the goal of "global rebalancing". The BRICS mechanism began but is not limited to economic cooperation, and its more important goal is to rebalance the international power system on behalf of emerging and developing countries.

The current international system presents two disproportions: first, the weight of emerging economies in the international system is not commensurate with the size of their economies; Second, the right to speak in international rule-making that developing countries should have is not commensurate with the existing proportion. As the representative institutions of the global financial governance system, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have highlighted the monopoly and power of Western countries in their discourse power and representative distribution. The imbalance in the international power system can also be glimpsed in the distribution of IOC membership.

Over the past 16 years, the BRICS countries have huddled together and worked hard to promote the construction of an international power system commensurate with their size. Through multiple quota reforms, the BRICS mechanism has effectively increased the weight of emerging economies in the IMF. At present, China, India, Russia and Brazil all have voting rights in the top ten. This achievement has greatly enhanced the charm and attractiveness of the BRICS mechanism.

Third, the "BRICS character" of real work and practical work. At present, various small multilateral and large multilateral cooperation mechanisms have emerged one after another around the world, but most of the development status is difficult to satisfy, some open high and low, some are barely maintained, and most of them have been reduced to "talking halls" with generalized functions and low efficiency. On the other hand, BRICS, along the way, although it has encountered some fetters, but it has shown resilience and vitality in the challenges, and has always been able to seize opportunities, pioneer and innovate in the turbulence and adjustment of the international situation, and constantly add new grasp and inject new momentum into the construction of mechanisms.

At present, the BRICS mechanism has established two major entities, and the outstanding performance of these two institutions tells the international community that the BRICS mechanism is indeed a "action team" that is really working and doing. First, the good operation of the BRICS New Development Bank. As the first multilateral financial institution to be established and controlled by developing countries themselves, in the seven years since its establishment, it has not only lent a total of $32 billion, but also leveraged several times this amount of funds for infrastructure and sustainable development projects urgently needed by member countries. In particular, the $10 billion emergency allocation during the pandemic has left some Western countries' monopoly financial institutions out of reach, a move that has attracted many countries to "line up" to join the NDB. The other is the outstanding performance of the BRICS Xiamen Innovation Base. Since its establishment two years ago, the base has focused on the three goals of talent training, policy coordination and project research and development under the situation of the new industrial revolution, and with the strong support of the Chinese government, various activities have been intensively held, and the initial harvest has been fruitful, and has become another new "BRICS business card" after the New Development Bank. The practical character of the BRICS countries in actively implementing the summit declaration has made it show a "different style" among the many cooperation mechanisms around the world.

Fourth, the "BRICS style" of seeking assimilation and distancing. The common reason why many multilateral cooperation mechanisms fail in the end is that member countries overly pursue their own interests and neglect the realization of overall interests and common goals, while the BRICS countries have handled the relationship between their own interests and overall interests well. In fact, although the BRICS countries have different political and economic systems and value systems, and some member countries have territorial entanglements, the BRICS countries properly handle the collision of interests with superb political wisdom. They not only seek common ground while reserving differences, but also seek common ground to overcome differences, promote bilateral with multilateralism, promote multilateralism with bilateral aspects, and realize their own interests in the breakthrough of overall interests. Influenced by the Western media's singing of the BRICS "same bed, different dreams", some developing countries were initially skeptical about whether the BRICS could go far, but over the years, they have witnessed and sincerely lamented the style and spirit of the BRICS mechanism of inclusiveness and ultimate integration of interests for the sake of the overall goal.

In the context of the exclusive and targeted alliance system of the United States and the West, many developing countries are lining up to join the BRICS mechanism and the SCO, which may give people the illusion that the world is forming a new "two parallel systems". In fact, developing countries do not want to see the emergence of parallel systems and bloc confrontations, and the BRICS countries have no intention of dyeing the color of "dividing the world in two". So many countries want to integrate into the BRICS, two reasons are self-evident: first, the rationality of the existence of the BRICS mechanism and the strong sustainable development capacity; Second, at a time when the world order is at a crossroads, the demands of the vast number of developing countries and BRICS countries have produced the same frequency resonance effect, and they are in the same boat to jointly promote the global order towards a more fair and just world. (The author is Director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies)