Chen Daojiang | At the head of the great unity of the South | Comment

RECENTLY, CHINESE President Xi Jinping attended the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. It was his first overseas visit after the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the first BRICS summit after its historic expansion. The international community has closely followed and praised China's important role as the backbone of BRICS cooperation and a core member of the Global South. The world is currently experiencing profound changes unprecedented in a century. Enhanced BRICS cooperation leads the unity of the Global South and has a significant and far-reaching historical impact.

IMPORTANT REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The BRICS cooperation mechanism was born from the historical trend of collective rise of emerging markets and developing countries. It carries the aspirations of the Global South in terms of peaceful development, equity and justice, and influences the evolution of the international landscape and the balance of power. Since their creation 18 years ago, BRICS has continued to develop. BRICS member countries currently account for almost half of the world's population, more than 30 percent of the global economy, and more than 50 percent of global economic growth. It has become the “golden brand” and the most crucial platform for solidarity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries around the world.

BRICS COOPERATION BUILDING CONSENSUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The current global governance system has failed to fully reflect the representation and voice of the Global South, preventing the international community from better responding to global challenges. Leaders from more than 30 countries gathered in Kazan for the BRICS Plus Leaders' Dialogue to express their views on strengthening multilateralism and promoting equitable global development and security. All parties opposed the bullying of the hegemonic power and double standards, called for a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible and the reform of the international economic and financial order. The desire of the countries of the South for peace, security, development, prosperity, equity and justice is clearly underlined.

BRICS EXPANSION DEMONSTRATES OPENNESS AND INCLUSIVENESS

The key to the continued growth of the BRICS mechanism lies in its openness and inclusiveness, its goal of win-win cooperation and its pursuit of fairness and justice. The decision to invite more countries to become BRICS partners at the Kazan summit is another important progress in the development of BRICS. This shows that the BRICS mechanism has reached a new level. The representation of the BRICS cooperation mechanism has been further expanded, and its appeal, influence and vitality have been greater. The BRICS cooperation mechanism has become a strategic force for building a fairer and more rational global governance system.

CHINA’S CONTRIBUTION TO BRICS DEVELOPMENT

Focusing on the changing international landscape and the trend of global development, President Xi Jinping in-depth expounded on China's proposal to promote the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation. He put forward five suggestions: building a BRICS committed to peace, innovation, green development, justice and closer people-to-people exchanges. He announced eight pragmatic measures to support the high-quality development of BRICS cooperation, which further expanded the scope and depth of BRICS cooperation, consolidated its pillars, effectively promoted its high-quality upgrade, increased the value of BRICS and strengthened the autonomy, self-confidence and self-improvement of BRICS countries.

Only when we know where we come from can we know where we are going. China has always cared about the countries of the South and has also taken root there. President Xi Jinping successively introduced the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, providing China's solutions to eliminate deficits in peace, development, security and governance. The initiatives were appreciated and positively received by countries in the South, and more than 100 countries joined the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative, supported the Global Security Initiative and the six-point consensus on their understanding joint political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis published by China and Brazil.

As strategic partners, China and Jamaica are both important members of the Global South. China is willing to maintain close bilateral exchanges in various fields and deepen pragmatic cooperation with Jamaica. We invite Jamaica to join the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative as soon as possible and board the high-speed train of modernization with Chinese characteristics. Let us together move towards a bright future of peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity.

As Chairman Mao Zedong said in his poem: “ do not fear the strong pass, clad with iron on all sides, the summit is now surmounted with great strides.” The bigger the current storm, the more courageous we must be to resist it. The times call for high-quality common development, and we must achieve this with unprecedented perseverance, courage and adaptation strategy. China is willing to continuously work with BRICS countries and countries of the South, including Jamaica, to realize the dreams of development and revitalization, to take responsibility for the world transformations unprecedented in a century, to collaborate to the cause of human civilization, jointly promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Chen Daojiang is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Jamaica and Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the International Seabed Authority. Send your comments to [email protected].