The Role of China

The BRICS have similar views and stands on many of the issues which are now widely discussed in various international organizations and forums. These are, in particular, reform of the Bretton Woods Institutions, trade protectionism and the Doha Development Round, struggle against international terrorism, the UN Millennium Development Goals, support for multipolar, equitable and democratic world order, principles of cooperation and mutual respect in the international arena etc. Common positions concerning all those issues have laid a foundation to the solidarity of the BRICS.

At present, the five countries see BRICS as a forum of increasing importance for dialogue and cooperation. They are also prepared to strengthen the mechanism of the BRICS teamwork. We should keep looking forward and remain open for dialogue and cooperation not only among ourselves, but also with other international or regional groups and individual states.

China has been playing a significant role in the making and development of the BRICS. What role could China play to further consolidate the group?

First, she could build up mutual trust, promote mutual understanding and mutual learning in various fields, especially those related to history, culture and development. China could widen the cooperation between the group members. Only by mutual learning are we able to improve our mutual understanding, gradually proceed to confidence-building and, finally, establish our mutual trust.

Since the creation of the BRICS, the focus has always been on economy. Yet, a human being is not only homo economicus, and social evolution depends on cultural achievements as well. The BRICS comprise very different nations from different continents which adhere to very different cultural traditions. It cannot be disputed that the five BRICS countries are unique civilizations, all of them having rich historical and cultural heritage. This creates a potential for socio-economic progress both inside and outside the BRICS. But it is also true that most people living in the five nations don’t have sufficient knowledge of history and culture of each other. Therefore, the BRICS should gradually build up mutual understanding, trust and learning by initiating activities of cultural exchange, such as visits by artists, students and scholars, conferences to discuss cultural and civilization issues, historical and art exhibitions, educational courses, exchange of ideas about international affairs, etc.

The principal reason for the creation of the BRICS is that the four original members (and South Africa as well) have developed very fast and, therefore, caught the eye of economic experts. Yet, different countries have different experience in development. So far, the BRICS countries have gradually developed a mechanism of economic cooperation which functions primarily on the governmental level and places emphasis on trade and investment.

China can also learn a great deal from the other four BRICS countries. Traditionally, Russia is a leading force in science and technology. It has a very comprehensive training system in many technical fields which combines theory and practice and which China can adopt. Brazil’s concept of environmental protection is far more advanced than the Chinese one. The Chinese have long cherished the idea of “first build, then protect the environment”, which has left the country with a lot of problems. In India, the financial institutions have created an effective system to support small businesses, whereas their Chinese counterparts generally ignore this important task. Moreover, India has established a good legal system in the financial sector, which the Chinese should borrow as well. By peacefully resolving ethnic conflicts after the end of apartheid, South Africa has taught us a lesson of effective conflict management, which is important for the whole world and China in particular.

Second, China should take the lead to probe the agenda of cooperation among the BRICS, since their bilateral and multilateral cooperation can be broadened in various ways. Since the BRICS started to operate, their teamwork has been centered on trade and investment, plus few other issues such as climate change in the global scale. Obviously, there are more fields to cooperate on. The BRICS should have a stronger voice in the process of rule-making in international diplomacy, international development cooperation and the world financial system. As for international development cooperation, it is clear that developing countries should have a common language and offer more practical assistance to the least developed countries. I once attended an off-record workshop on the South-South Development Aid organized by the SAIIA in 2007, where other participants were scholars and officials from Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Western states. One of the findings was that aid policies of Southern countries followed similar rules which were quite different from those of the West. While the Westerners first set certain conditions and only then started to provide aid, this was not the case with Southern states.²¹⁹ An Indian scholar Aparajita Biswas noticed that India and China carry out their international aid policies in Africa according to the same principle.²²⁰ Therefore, it is possible that the BRICS set up their own international development cooperation agenda.

Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the damage caused by the U.S. currency to the global economy is prevalent and obvious. It would be most beneficial for the BRICS countries to carry out their trade in the most convenient way to avoid the disastrous effects caused by the U.S.. Therefore, it is an imperative that the Chinese currency RMB become convertible. As a foreign businessman points out, “as China is the largest economy among the BRICS countries, it is imperative for China to ensure that its currency is fully convertible with restrictions on moving money into and out of the country lifted, as this would make it more effective in using the renminbi in intra-BRICS and international trade.”²²¹ Therefore, it is necessary for the BRICS to unite and change the international currency relations in their own interests, rather than remaining the passive victim of the U.S.-controlled monetary system.

Thirdly, China should take the lead to facilitate the consolidation of the BRICS, which includes revision of previous policies, establishment of an information exchange network and a conflict resolution network. The BRICS countries had established their bilateral relations long before the acronym came into existence. Therefore, the countries in question should sign bilateral agreements and coordinate their cooperation policies. Are the existing agreements still effective and able to stimulate bilateral relations? Or did they become out-of-date and, therefore, do they pose an obstacle to cooperation? There might be three cases. The agreements may have become obstacles to bilateral relations, which means there is an acute need to renegotiate them. Some agreements might be beneficial to bilateral relations but not to the new situation of multilateral cooperation. The agreements may have become out-of-date long ago, but they may still exist. Therefore, it is important to reexamine the effectiveness of the signed agreements and discuss the need to sign new ones. Moreover, information exchange becomes more and more important in international political, economic and security-related issues. The BRICS should gradually set up an information exchange network to share various kind of information, especially in such important issues as introduction of sanctions and other measures, interference and war etc. The five countries usually have the same standard for these issues, but they still need more discussion information exchange and exchange of ideas in order to coordinate their actions. Their cohesive actions are very important in issues such as new threats to security, i.e. terrorism, drug traffic, illegal cross-border activities, etc. Information sharing can also include data on immigration and trade-related issues. It is also important to establish a common conflict-resolution system. Since China, Russia and India are neighboring countries, and the five countries ‘overlap’ in production of or trade with certain goods, it is more than necessary to build a mechanism that would prevent conflicts in various fields. As part of the emerging countries, the BRICS countries have gained the momentum in recent years because of their coordination and cooperation. Russia is traditionally strong in science and technology. India is nicknamed the “world office”. Brazil is not only rich in natural resources, but also has reputation of a renewable energy expert. South Africa has an efficient socio-political system and an enormous natural resource base. China is regarded as the “world workshop”. With all these factors, the BRICS have a real competitive advantage. Academia sometimes asks the question of whether the BRICS should choose to be incorporated into the existing system, or challenge it. I think the BRICS should be more open-minded instead of taking a zero-sum attitude towards the present system. We should work in the present system and at the same time gradually reform it. For the first step, we should establish our mutual trust which will pave the way forward. There have been various metaphors about the 21^st century, such as “the century of India”, “the century of China” or “the century of Africa”. I am not sure about any of them in particular. Yet, it is certain that the 21^st century will belong to emerging economies in general.