1. the characteristics of BRICS cooperation
the formation and development of BRICS countries reflect the quantitative and qualitative changes in the contemporary international power balance, conform to the trend of contemporary international trends, and push the international system forward in a more just and reasonable direction.
BRICS countries are becoming an important carrier of contemporary South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue. As the first echelon of emerging market countries in the G2, BRICS countries play an irreplaceable role in South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue. The BRICS cooperation itself is an important part of South-South cooperation, and it also increases the weight of emerging powers in the North-South dialogue, thus safeguarding the common interests of developing countries.
BRICS countries emphasize strategic and pragmatic cooperation. The so-called strategy is to proceed from the overall interests of emerging powers, understand the significance of cooperation among BRICS countries from the height of promoting world peace and development, deepen political mutual trust through dialogue and exchanges, and become a model of international mutual respect and equal consultation. The so-called pragmatic cooperation is to take mutual benefit as the goal, openness and transparency as the premise, and mechanism construction as the guarantee, broaden the scope of cooperation and share the fruits of cooperation to the greatest extent.
2. One of the purposes of BRICS cooperation
is to improve the quality on the basis of existing economic growth and develop in a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable direction. BRICS countries should continue to expand the scale and depth of economic and trade cooperation and carry out all-round and multi-field cooperation. BRICS countries are emerging economies with different development requirements from developed countries, and they have the same requirements in optimizing their industrial structure, improving the external development environment and enhancing their international status. At the same time, it also reflects the development will of developing countries.
the second purpose is to establish a new type of partnership with the characteristics of the times, reflecting the cooperative characteristics of the BRICS groups, such as diversification, wide scope, trans-regional and plasticity. The cooperation areas of BRICS countries include not only bilateral economic, trade, financial and energy cooperation, but also global issues such as climate change, energy security, international development and the world economy. BRICS countries are located in major developing regions and are the main economies of the latter, and their cooperation is also of positive significance for promoting cross-regional cooperation. The BRICS countries continue to promote cooperation in a step-by-step, active, pragmatic, open and transparent manner, and set a new model of partnership with the characteristics of the times.
the third purpose is to strengthen the inclusive cooperation among BRICS countries, within developing countries and between developing and developed countries. Dialogue and cooperation among BRICS countries is a non-confrontational adjustment to the existing international system, and it is a gradual process of gradually reforming the old governance system under the background of accepting the existing world governance rules.
the fourth purpose is that the BRICS countries will increase their contribution to the international community, such as coping with climate change, strengthening energy and resource security, and strengthening regional cooperation, while enhancing their right to speak and regulate in the peaceful transformation of the international system.
from the above analysis, we can summarize the spirit of BRICS cooperation as: development, partnership, tolerance and contribution, which embodies the characteristics of BRICS cooperation, such as development orientation, new partnership, tolerance rather than exclusion, and increasing the supply of international products.
II. Status quo and vision of BRICS mechanism construction
1. Status quo and trend of BRICS mechanism construction
At present, the cooperation mechanism of BRICS countries has several levels, such as foreign ministers' meetings, finance ministers' meetings and summits, and its main mechanism features are as follows: First, BRICS countries are only a soft mechanism, with only a loose forum nature and even no secretariat. Secondly, the BRICS countries have not yet formed consistent guiding norms, and their internal stability needs to be strengthened. Finally, the relationship with other mechanisms such as the G-2 and related regional organizations is complicated.
The development of BRICS mechanism can be divided into three major trends: optimism, neutrality and pessimism. The optimistic trend is that the strategic direction of BRICS countries is basically the same, that is, to strive for an international peaceful environment conducive to development and to change the unreasonable and unjust international political and economic system. In the context of the international financial crisis, the BRICS countries have demonstrated their comprehensive strength by contributing about 4% to the world economic growth, and quickly realized the transformation from economic concepts to soft mechanisms with political and economic influence, and are expected to develop into substantive international organizations. BRICS countries not only have obvious comparative advantages, but also have strong complementarities, which reduces the difficulty of damaging the deepening of economic cooperation. The BRICS countries have a positive attitude towards hosting the summit, and the topics of the summit show a global vision and pragmatic spirit. As long as we can maintain mutual benefit and a more pragmatic attitude, the prospects and international influence of the BRICS mechanism are expected to be good.
The neutral trend is: the pattern of "one superpower and many strong countries" will continue, and the BRICS countries are still weak if they want to develop into an independent economic group to guide or influence the trend of the world economy. The BRICS countries are still a loose economic mixture, and their right to speak in the international community is not very great. The symbolic significance of cooperation is mostly, and it is still difficult to solve specific problems. From the current point of view, after the international financial crisis, whether the BRICS countries can retain and expand the cooperation achievements during the crisis and become a far-reaching fixed mechanism remains to be tested, and there are still many uncertain factors in its development prospects. Despite this, BRICS cooperation will still make small steps forward in difficulties.
The pessimistic trend is that the differences in political systems, values and development levels among BRICS countries constitute deep obstacles to deepening cooperation. At present, the original pattern of the world economy has not changed fundamentally, and the BRICS countries are far from leading the world economy. On the contrary, there are challenges such as backward technology, high dependence on foreign trade, high economic vulnerability and insufficient domestic demand. The BRICS Summit is neither a political union like the European Union nor an economic union like the South. Without a common agenda, it is difficult to form a common position on international issues and achieve common goals. In view of the above challenges and limitations, it is difficult for BRICS cooperation to replace the position of G-7 or G-2 in world affairs, and there is even the possibility of weakening or even disappearing.
2. Suggestions on short-term, medium-term and long-term mechanism construction
The recent mechanism construction of BRICS countries should focus on pragmatic cooperation. The key is to implement the political understanding of each country, build a basic mechanism framework, and at the same time, supplement it with research and analysis of long-term vision. (1) Summarize the experience of summits in recent years and consolidate and promote the summit mechanism. We can consider making a special statement on the mechanism construction at this year's China Summit, defining the basic elements such as the purpose, objectives, tasks and membership of BRICS cooperation, and outlining the road map and timetable of BRICS cooperation. In the initial stage, the expansion needs to be cautious, and at the same time, there is no hurry to set up a secretariat. (2) Enrich the content of cooperation and build a multi-level mechanism framework. Focus on areas with strong operability, quick results, low sensitivity and extensive knowledge, and do a solid job in each stage before moving forward, so that it can enter the track of sustainable development and avoid repeated cooperation. Coordination and communication on global governance issues can be appropriately increased to form a situation that echoes each other. (3) Strengthen the exchange and communication through unofficial channels, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the people, especially attach importance to the role of think tanks and experts, set up an expert group to study the cooperation mechanism, determine the main topics of cooperation every year, and regularly evaluate the cooperation situation. At the same time, we can refer to the successful experience of PECC and CSCAP, and set up a national committee of officials, enterprises and universities to perform its duties before the formal establishment of the Secretariat. (4) Increase pre-meeting coordination and post-meeting dialogue in major international occasions such as the United Nations and the G-2, and increase the synchronization of policies, thus enhancing the group strength of BRICS countries. (5) Establish and improve dispute arbitration and crisis management mechanisms, properly handle internal disputes, and prevent internal conflicts from affecting the overall situation of cooperation.
the medium-term planning of BRICS countries rationalizes the relationship with various external mechanisms and organizations on the basis of internal integration. (1) Strengthen cooperation with the United Nations and its subordinate organizations. BRICS countries can host some important United Nations summits and put forward BRICS initiatives on global issues such as sustainable development, food security, climate change and international disaster prevention and mitigation. (2) Establish a regular dialogue mechanism with the G8, OECD and other organizations, with the BRICS as the core and inviting other developing countries to participate, making it an important platform for North-South dialogue. (3) Establish closer relations with regional organizations to promote regional integration. Make use of the important position and influence of BRICS countries in their respective regions and regional organizations to accelerate the construction of regional system and order. (4) Strengthen cooperation with emerging and medium-sized countries at the second level and increase assistance to other developing countries by means of associated countries or partnership programs, so as to play the respective and collective roles of developing countries at multiple levels.
The long-term cooperation vision of BRICS countries should realize a leap from material to idea and a strategic leap from regional level to system level. For example, contribute new values and mainstream ideas to the international system, provide strategic thinking and ideas for solving major global problems, provide more development models for the international community, and provide more theoretical and practical support for peace, development and cooperation.