SOUTH AFRICA’S Johannesburg will play host to the 15th BRICS summit, a pivotal gathering of emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, from today to Thursday. With a host of multilateral and bilateral agendas in the pipeline, President Xi Jinping’s visit to South Africa has given rise to expectations that Beijing will continue to lead the way in improving global governance, and that it will uphold true multilateralism and bolster solidarity with African nations. The expansion of BRICS, the strengthening of coordination between major emerging economies and the developing world, and a bolstering of Beijing’s cooperation with Africa will top Xi’s agenda. The Johannesburg summit is set to bring together the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to participate via video link, according to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor. Xu Xiujun, a senior research fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ National Institute for Global Strategy, said he expects the summit to be an occasion during which Beijing continues to champion better global governance and uphold true multilateralism. As of Aug. 7, a total of 23 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia, had formally applied to become BRICS members. Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese vice minister of foreign affairs, told a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in June that China welcomes and expects new members to join the BRICS family at an early date. Wang Lei, director of the Center for BRICS Cooperation Studies at Beijing Normal University, said the cooperation among BRICS countries has become a multilateral cooperation mechanism with major influence in the global political and economic systems. BRICS countries account for around 42% of the world’s population, almost 30% of the world’s territory, around 27% of global GDP and around 20% of global trade. Thanks to China’s active participation and vigorous promotion, BRICS cooperation has transitioned from a framework driven by the “two wheels” of politics and economy to the “triple pillars” of political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges. In recent years, cultural and people-to-people exchanges have notably gained momentum, and the activities of such exchanges are taking place regularly and have been institutionalized. There has been a wide range of activities, from the BRICS media forums, film festivals, and cultural festivals, to women’s innovation contests, and technical and vocational education programs. This rich variety demonstrates that BRICS countries are committed to creating a broad landscape for cross-regional and cross-cultural exchanges. They have not only accelerated the advancement of the BRICS cooperation mechanism but also presented a “BRICS model” for fostering inclusiveness and mutual learning among different civilizations. (China Daily, Xinhua) | 