Multilateralism gets a boost at BRICS summit

BEIJING -- The latest summit of the leaders of the world's five major emerging economies has injected impetus into multilateralism at a time of crucial developments taking place in the world economy and international landscape, according to analysts.

At the 11th BRICS summit held in Brasilia this week, President Xi Jinping called on the BRICS countries to undertake their due obligations in championing and practicing multilateralism.

The essence of multilateralism is that international affairs should be addressed through extensive consultation rather than decided by one country or a few, Xi said.

No country is born to be dominant, and no model is destined to be superior, he said, adding that in the era of globalization it should not be some people fighting against others, but should instead be all bringing benefits for all.

By urging the BRICS countries to safeguard peace and development for all, uphold fairness and justice and promote win-win results, Xi has pointed out the objectives and principles of upholding multilateralism, foreign relations experts interviewed by Xinhua said.

Wang Lei, director of the Center for BRICS Cooperation Studies at Beijing Normal University, said Xi's remarks serve as a reminder for the BRICS countries to stay true to the grouping's original purposes of promoting solidarity and cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries based on multilateralism and representing their interests.

Xi's remarks will also help build consensus and provide guidance for BRICS to play a bigger role in the United Nations, the G20, the World Trade Organization and other international frameworks, Wang said.

In a declaration issued after the summit, the leaders of the five BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- pledged to remain committed to multilateralism and reaffirmed their commitment to helping overcome the significant challenges currently facing multilateralism.

Zhu Jiejin, associate professor at Fudan University, said voices championing multilateralism at the summit came at the right time as the world is faced with rising protectionism and unilateralism, and some problems and uncertainties are threatening its current multilateral mechanisms on trade, security and combating climate change.

The BRICS countries' strong willingness for cooperation has demonstrated the vitality of multilateralism, according to Zhou Zhiwei, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

During the summit, Xi also proposed leveraging the "BRICS Plus" cooperation as a platform to increase dialogue with other countries and civilizations to win BRICS more friends and partners.

The "BRICS Plus" cooperation, created at the Xiamen summit in 2017, has invited leaders of developing countries outside BRICS to join the dialogue.

Xi's proposal has sent a reassuring message to the developing world that the BRICS countries are willing to further the cooperation with other developing countries, Wang said.

On the way forward, more efforts can also be made to deepen practical cooperation, for example, by setting up more agencies under the framework to promote and institutionalize practices of multilateralism, said Zhu.