China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and BRICS Business Cooperation: Past, Present, and Future

The BRICS cooperation began 18 years ago in 2006. That year, the foreign ministers of China, India, Russia, and Brazil, the four major developing countries, held their first meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The BRICS countries, a collaborative mechanism proposed by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill, have become a reality.

Three years later, the leaders of the four countries held their first meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and the BRICS cooperation mechanism was officially established. In 2010, South Africa joined the BRICS cooperation mechanism, adding another "brick" on top of the four BRICS. In 2024, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt joining the BRICS cooperation mechanism, the BRICS countries will be upgraded to the BRICS Ten, and 2024 will be hailed as the year of the "Big BRICS".

The core of the BRICS cooperation mechanism is the annual BRICS Leaders' Summit, which has been held for the 16th time from 2009 to the Kazan Summit in 2024. One of the main forms of cooperation mechanism among the business communities of BRICS countries within the framework of the Leaders' Summit is the BRICS Business Forum. In this mechanism, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade plays an important role, not only organizing Chinese enterprises to actively participate in cooperation, but also undertaking the task of organizing cooperation mechanism activities.

Starting point

Firstly, turn back time to Sanya, Hainan in April 2011, where the business communities of BRICS countries first met. As one of the special events held simultaneously with the third meeting of BRICS leaders, more than 500 representatives from the business community of BRICS countries attended the meeting, including over 250 representatives from China and over 240 representatives from Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa.

In the flowers of Hainan in spring, representatives from the business community discussed topics such as the rise of BRICS countries and world economic recovery, energy and resource utilization and sustainable development, the potential and business opportunities of BRICS consumer markets, economic and trade cooperation and financial support, technological innovation and green growth, and issued the "BRICS Business Forum Joint Statement", marking the beginning of BRICS business cooperation.

In this forum, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, as the organizer of the conference, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a BRICS Business Liaison Mechanism with representatives from other four countries' business associations.

Two years later, in Durban, South Africa in March 2013, another important cooperation mechanism was born. The leaders of BRICS countries held their fifth meeting in Durban, South Africa. After the meeting, as part of the action plan, it was decided to establish the BRICS Business Council with the aim of strengthening and promoting economic, trade, business, and investment connections among the business communities of the five BRICS countries, ensuring regular dialogue between the business communities and governments of BRICS countries, and proposing solutions to relevant issues.

As the time comes to 2020, the world is facing the severe challenge of the COVID-19. The BRICS countries have established a new cooperation mechanism - the BRICS Women's Business Alliance. This mechanism is based on Russia's 2017 initiative, authorized by BRICS leaders in 2019, and officially established during the 2020 BRICS Leaders' Summit as a business cooperation mechanism. It is a proprietary new platform for women entrepreneurs from BRICS countries to deepen exchanges and cooperation, aiming to promote women to play an active role in the economic development of BRICS countries. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade is still responsible for leading and organizing the participation of the Chinese business community in this mechanism, and the Chinese Secretariat of this mechanism is located in the China Chamber of International Commerce.

Relay

With the expansion and deepening of the cooperation mechanism among BRICS countries, the scale of the business cooperation mechanism under the BRICS framework continues to expand, the level of attendees increases, and the topics discussed become more in-depth.

2017 marks the beginning of the second decade of BRICS cooperation. In September of that year, six years later, the BRICS Leaders' Summit was held in the beautiful city of Xiamen, along with the second BRICS Business Forum. The heads of state of China, Brazil, and South Africa jointly attended the conference and delivered speeches at the opening ceremony. The number of participants in the forum reached 1200, including 79 of the world's top 500 enterprises, involving traditional industries such as energy, finance and food, and emerging industries such as the Internet and big data. At the forum, attending representatives had in-depth discussions on topics such as trade and investment, financial cooperation, connectivity, and the development of the blue economy, and reached broad consensus.

In July 2018, the 10th BRICS Summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The BRICS Business Forum held with the summit is the first time that the forum has been held outside of China.

In 2021, in response to President Xi Jinping's call, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of International Commerce guided the Chinese Council of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance to host two consecutive BRICS Women's Innovation Competitions. Each innovation and entrepreneurship project led by women has stood out and won the "Mulan Award" at the BRICS Women's Innovation Competition.

In 2022, the COVID-19 epidemic will intensify the global shock, accelerate the adjustment of the international pattern and global governance system, and face uncertainty in the world economic recovery. In June of that year, under the auspices of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the BRICS Business Forum was held in Beijing in a combination of online and offline formats.

Among the more than 1000 attending representatives, there were not only representatives from the BRICS countries at that time, but also representatives from 13 countries including Kazakhstan and Thailand, further expanding the scope of participation. The representatives held special discussions on topics such as world economic recovery, green transformation, digital economy, health cooperation, and industrial chain and supply chain resilience, and released the "Beijing Initiative for BRICS Business Community", which proposed five suggestions: strengthening health cooperation, promoting world economic recovery, enhancing green transformation, maintaining supply chain stability, and strengthening industrial revolution partnerships.

Earlier in the same month, female business elites from BRICS countries also gathered on the "cloud" to jointly participate in the 2022 annual meeting of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance. The directors from five countries jointly listened to the annual work reports of five joint working groups on inclusive economy, innovative development, health and healthcare, food security and environmental security, as well as creative industries and tourism. Representatives from various countries spoke in turn, highly praising the effective work led by China as the rotating chairman, expressing active support for the five joint working groups' initiatives, and proposing relevant opinions and implementation measures. In terms of future cooperation and development of the alliance, the directors of various countries proposed suggestions such as strengthening collaboration with the B20 mechanism, adopting more effective ways to empower women, and establishing a development platform for the BRICS Women's Business Alliance. Finally, the Council of Five jointly reviewed and approved the "2022 Annual Report of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance".

In 2023, as the global economy enters a process of recovery, the world expects women to play more roles. On June 5th of that year, the 2023 BRICS Women's Leadership Forum, hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of International Commerce, was held in Beijing in a combination of online and offline formats. More than 300 people attended the forum, including Shen Yueyue, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, as well as the chairpersons of the China, South Africa, and Russia Council of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance, ambassadors of BRICS countries to China, representatives of international organizations and business associations, outstanding female political and business representatives, and winners of two editions of the BRICS Women's Innovation Competition.

Lebogan Zulu, the rotating chairman of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance in 2023 and the chairman of the South African Council, pointed out that since its establishment three years ago, the alliance has strengthened cooperation and exchanges among women in BRICS countries, jointly explored solutions to women's development issues, effectively enhanced the leadership of women in economic and social development in BRICS countries, and fully stimulated women's development potential. Representatives from various countries discussed how women can cope with challenges, surpass themselves, encourage women to strive and play a more active and important role in digital transformation and sustainable development, focusing on topics such as "social responsibility, writing glory" and "digital transformation, women's potential". The forum also released a simplified version of the '2023 BRICS Women's Development Report' outcome document.

Towards the future

Since the 2006 New York Foreign Ministers' Meeting, it is now the 18th year of the BRICS cooperation mechanism. At the age of 18, BRICS is at a critical stage of carrying forward the past and opening up the future. Five "new friends" join the group, and the "BRICS countries" become the "Big BRICS", with more quality, weight, and influence.

In today's world, a hundred years of changes are happening, and the deficits in peace, development, security, and governance are increasing. The world hopes to hear more voices from BRICS and looks forward to BRICS playing a greater role. Compared to the past, the "Big BRICS" of ten members will have a greater voice on the international stage and be more capable of providing solutions to the world that are different from the old international order.

After the expansion, the weight of the "Big BRICS" in the international community will further increase: the total population of the ten countries has reached 3.63 billion, accounting for 45.9% of the global population, the total trade volume of each country accounts for one-fifth of the world's total, the global GDP proportion (calculated by purchasing power parity) has increased from 31.6% in the BRICS era to 35.6%, and the proportion of world crude oil exports has increased from 15% to 36%.

In 2024, as the new era of BRICS begins, BRICS business cooperation is ushering in a new beginning. On June 11th, prior to the leaders' meeting, the BRICS Women's Leadership Forum was held in Beijing, attended by over 300 delegates including Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Huang Xiaowei, First Secretary of the All China Women's Federation, and BRICS ambassadors to China. The conference conducted in-depth discussions on the topic of "Excellence for All, Beauty for All" and released the "Report on Women's Development in BRICS Countries".

On October 18th, the BRICS Business Forum was held in Moscow, with over 1000 representatives from businesses and business associations from more than 30 countries attending. Compared to previous BRICS Business Forums, this year's BRICS Business Forum has the largest number of nationalities in attendance.

Russian President Putin pointed out at the meeting that the contribution of BRICS countries to the global economy has now surpassed that of the G7, with an average growth rate of 4%, while the G7 is only 1.7% and the world average is only 3.2%. The BRICS countries have become a driving force for global growth. The forum also discussed the potential for cooperation among BRICS countries in the field of economy and trade. The new "Greater BRICS" cooperation will gather the largest energy exporting and importing countries, and the economic and trade complementarity and potential among BRICS countries will further increase. In addition, the BRICS Business Forum specifically mentioned that the leaders' summit will focus on discussing the payment system of BRICS countries, and a unified payment system will further facilitate economic and trade cooperation among BRICS countries.

The Kazan Summit is the first national head level event of the BRICS countries after the five new members joined. Its significance lies in setting the tone and guiding the direction of the new 'Greater BRICS' cooperation. Especially in such a dual standard and' small courtyard high wall 'international environment, the old international order is increasingly difficult to provide excellent and effective public goods to the international community. The fate of the BRICS mechanism lies in exploring a new path of cooperation that is inclusive, just, pragmatic and feasible, "said Hao He, associate researcher at the Russian Institute of Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(Reporter Mao Wen, Intern Reporter Wan Zewei, Editor in Chief)