Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for strengthening global economic governance at a time when the world  economy faces strong headwinds on its path toward recovery and global  development has suffered major setbacks amid an unprecedented pandemic.

"We  should promote extensive consultation and joint contribution to deliver  shared benefits, enhance global economic governance, and increase the  representation and say of emerging markets and developing countries.  This will ensure that all countries enjoy equal rights, follow the rules  as equals, and share equal opportunities," Xi said in his keynote  speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday.

The  BRICS mechanism of five major emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- has traveled a glorious path since its  inception in 2006.

Accounting  for 23 percent of the global economy, 18 percent of trade in goods and  25 percent of foreign investment, BRICS countries have formed an  important force that cannot be ignored in the world economy.

"The unstoppable rise of emerging markets and developing countries has  injected strong impetus to the reform of the global economic governance  system," Xi said at the plenary session of the BRICS Brasilia summit in 2019.

BRICS POWER

The  world's economic center of gravity has been shifting from the North to  the developing South, said the Global Development Report issued Monday  by the Center for International Knowledge on Development.

The gross domestic product share of emerging markets and developing  countries in the global economy evaluated by purchasing power parity  increased from roughly the same as that of advanced economies during the  financial crisis to nearly 60 percent in 2020, the report said.

The global governance system is being rapidly reshaped, with developing  countries making more of their voices heard. Meanwhile, more global  governance platforms are emerging. The G20, BRICS, and a variety of  regional and sub-regional cooperation bodies are playing an increasingly  important role, according to the report.

In 2014, the BRICS countries decided to establish the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

Xi once said the moves have "provided financing support for infrastructure  building and sustainable development of the BRICS countries,  contributing to enhanced global economic governance and the building of  an international financial safety net."

From  renewable energy projects in Brazil to railway network upgrade programs  in India and new toll roads in Russia, the New Development Bank has  approved more than 80 projects in member countries and handed out 30  billion U.S. dollars in loans.

According to the bank, from 2022 to 2026, it will provide 30 billion U.S. dollars  of financial support for member countries, with 40 percent of the funds  to be used for mitigating global warming.

At the plenary session of the BRICS Xiamen summit, Xi called for efforts  to advance the reform of global economic governance, increase the  representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries,  and inject new impetus into the efforts to address the development gap  between the North and South and boost global growth.

"The  development of the emerging markets and developing countries is not  intended to move the cheese of anyone but to make the pie of the global  economy bigger," Xi said in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony  of the BRICS Business Forum in 2017.

"We  should join hands to steer the course of economic globalization, offer  more vision and public goods, make the governance model and rules more  balanced and inclusive, and improve and reshape international division  of labor and global value chains," Xi said on the same occasion.

DEVELOPMENT AS KEY

Last  September, Xi put forward a Global Development Initiative, calling on  all parties to forge united, equal, balanced and inclusive global  development partnership.

The  initiative aims to arouse the attention of the international community  on development issues, promote the strengthening of the global  development partnership, effectively respond to the challenges posed by  the pandemic, help developing countries speed up recovery, and achieve  the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as scheduled, according to the  Global Development Report.

"Development  holds the key to solving various difficult problems and delivering  better lives to the people," Xi said at the opening ceremony of the  BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday.

On  this important occasion, Xi urged strengthening cooperation to better  safeguard food and energy security, seize opportunities presented by the  new scientific and technological revolution and industrial  transformation, help developing countries speed up the development of  the digital economy and green transformation, and engage in cooperation  on COVID-19 response to beat the virus at an early date.

Just as Xi put it, "BRICS is not a talking shop, but a task force that gets things done."

In  2018, the BRICS Johannesburg summit endorsed the BRICS Partnership on  New Industrial Revolution proposed by China and South Africa. Two years  later, China announced the establishment of a BRICS Partnership on New  Industrial Revolution innovation center in Xiamen. So far, more than  120,000 personnel from 28 countries have been trained and more than 100  BRICS demonstration projects have been launched.

Xi  on Wednesday called on business leaders to actively participate in  building the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution, strengthen  cooperation on the digital economy, smart manufacturing, clean energy  and low-carbon technology, and support the industrial restructuring and  upgrading in BRICS countries.

OPEN, INCLUSIVE

Since  its inception, the BRICS mechanism has set the right direction for  openness and inclusiveness. China proposed the "BRICS Plus" cooperation  model at the Xiamen summit in 2017.

"We  may explore 'BRICS Plus' cooperation within the United Nations, the  G20, and other frameworks to advance the common interests and boost the  development space for emerging markets and developing countries, thus  contributing more to world peace and development through broader  partnerships," Xi said at the plenary session of the BRICS Johannesburg summit.

"As a cooperation platform with global influence, BRICS cooperation is more  than about our five countries. Rather, it carries the expectations of  emerging markets and developing countries and indeed the international  community," Xi has said.

Under  China's chairmanship, more than 70 meetings and events have been held  since the start of the year on fields including political security,  economy, trade and finance, cultural and people-to-people exchanges,  sustainable development and public health.

This  year, the "BRICS Plus" dialogue was elevated to the foreign minister  level for the first time. China will encourage BRICS parties to continue  in-depth discussions on membership expansion, expand the reach and  benefits of BRICS cooperation, and use the "BRICS Plus" model to enable  more countries to get on the express train of development.

"Despite changes in an evolving global environment, the historical trend of  openness and development will not reverse course, and our shared desire  to meet challenges together through cooperation will remain as strong as  ever," Xi said Wednesday, urging countries to rise to challenge and  forge ahead with resolve toward the goal of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

(source:Xinhua News)