BRICS

Professor Wang Guo An

Zhejiang Gongshang University
Mobile:136-0051-6079
E-mail:
wangguoan@mail.zjgsu.edu.cn

Brazil+Russia+India+China=BRIC
B+R+I+C+South Africa=BRICS

BRICS

How BRICS came into being

BRICS development
BRICS characteristics and influence

BRICS challenges and future

2001
BRIC

Brick

Goldman Sachs has argued that, since the four BRIC countries are
developing rapidly, by 2050 their combined economies could eclipse the
combined economies of the current richest countries of the world. These
four countries, combined, currently account for more than a quarter of the
world's land area and more than 40% of the world's population.

BRICS is a grouping acronym that refers to member countries

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Founded as BRIC, it
is typically rendered as the BRICS or the BRICS countries or
alternatively as the Big Five. They are called emerging
markets or economies.

BRICS

The acronym (originally "BRIC") was coined by an economist Jim O'Neill

in a 2001 paper entitled "Building Better Global Economic BRICS". The
acronym has come into widespread use as a symbol of the shift in
global economic power away from the developed G7 economies
(France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA and Canada) towards the
developing world. On April 13, 2011 the "S" was formally added to BRIC
to form BRICS after the admission of South Africa into the union.

Why did BRIC emerge?

The 1998 Asian Financial Crisis undermined the

authority of the International Monetary Fund, and
the Iraq War diminished US influence in the UN. In
addition, the failure of the Doha round of talks
revealed problems in the governance of world
trade. Meanwhile developing countries have been
emerging and growing in stature as these issues
developed, and they have begun to question the
old rules established by the developed countries.
These were the circumstances under which the
BRIC emerged. Essentially, the five countries of
BRICS have a common aim and purpose to band
together to redefine the international rules, working
together with the developed countries of course.

In June 2009, four leaders held their first meeting

for the first time in Russia. 2009 6

In April 2010, the second "BRIC summit was held

in Brazil. 2010 4

BRICS Development

In November 2010, South Africa applied to join

in the BRICS during the Group 20 summit. 2010
11

On December 2010, South Africa has been

accepted as a member of the "BRIC countries
and "BRICwas renamed as "BRICS" .2010 12

(BRICS)

South Africa received a formal invitation to join from China in 2010. Combined
GDP of the nations accounted for 18 percent of the world's total in 2010. South
Africa attended the summit as a member for the first time in 2011 in Sanya, Hainan
province, China. The group was renamed BRICS to reflect the now-five-nation
membership.

On April 14, 2011, President Hu Jintao met with

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and South African
President Jacob Zuma. The third formal
meeting of BRICS included South Africa for the
first time.

Broad Vision and Shared

Prosperity

The BRICS Summit, thethird of its kind,was held on

April 14 in Sanya, a coastal city of China's Hainan
Province. The summit focused on global financial
reforms, the international economic and financial
situation, multi-polarity of global systems,
development issues and co-operation among the
member countries.

BRICS Leaders Meeting

Sanya, Hainan, China, 14 April
2011

Summit

Date

Host
country

Host leader

Location

Participan
t

1st

BRIC

June 16,
2009

Russia

Dmitry
Medvedev

Yekaterinburg

2st

BRIC

June 16,
2010

Brazil

Luiz Incio
Lula da
Silva

Braslia

3st

BRICS

April 14,
2011

China

Hu Jintao

Sanyaa

4st

BRICS

2012

India

Manmohan
Singh

New Delhi

In 2010, BRICS GDP accounted for 18 percent of

global GDP; their average growth rate was nearly 7
percent, over 2 percentage points higher than
average world growth. Foreign investment in BRICS
countries accounted for 53 percent of the world's
total. Their voting power at the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) was increased. Many see them
as the leaders of the world economic recovery and
the growth engine of the world, and expect them to
play an ever more important role in the G20.

BRICS four topics in Sanya

Reform of the international economic

system
The current situation in Libya and the
Middle East and BRICS' common stance on
how to deal with such political crises.
How to deal with climate change and
natural disasters caused by climate change.
Map out a new development plan for BRICS.

BRICS characteristics and

influence

At present, the five BRICS countries

account for nearly 30 per cent of the
world's land area, 42 per cent of the
global population, and 15 per cent of
the world total trade volume. The trade
among these five countries experienced
a rapid growth at 28 per cent annually
from the year 2001 to 2010 and
reached the amount of US$ 230 billion.

BRICS characteristics and

influence
The BRICS economies account for 18
percent of the world's economic
aggregate and attract 53 percent of the
foreign capital. By 2015, BRICS' total
GDP will increase to 23 percent of the
world total, by 2020 to 31 percent. by
2030 to 47 percent.
Between 2000 and 2010, BRICS' GDP
grew by an incredible 92.7 percent.

BRICS characteristics and

influence
BRICS aim at
promotion of the peace and
development of the world.
improvement of the developing
countries rights.
enhancing the communication
between developed and developing
countries .

BRICS characteristics and

influence
BRICS in common

the fastest growing economies nowadays in the

world with tremendous potential.
are in the similar stage of development and face the
same historical task of developing their economies
and improving the well-being of their people.
are also facing the similar challenges or problems in
restructuring the economy, maintaining a healthy
and sustainable growth and in achieving an
inclusive, equitable and green development.
enjoy highly complementary advantages and solid
foundation for extensive cooperation to promote
common development based on equality and mutual
benefit.

BRICS characteristics and

influence
BRICS mechanism
open
transparent
Inclusive
has provided a platform for BRICS
members to express their views,
coordinate their stances and take joint
action in forming the new international
political and economic order.

BRICS characteristics and

influence
BRICS, a multi-level cooperative
framework the Leaders Summit as its
highest form, assisted by meetings of
Senior Security Representatives,
Foreign Ministers,
Finance Ministers, Governors of Central
Banks
Think Tanks,
business circles and
financial institutions.

Cruzior
Ruble
Rupee
RMB
Rand

BRICS characteristics and

influence

IMPORT: Their import and service demands, at

over $2 trillion, accounts for 13.5 percent of
global imports. This represents a 277 percent
growth in imports.
Capitalization: the market capitalization of BRIC
companies grew from $1.2 trillion to $6.4 trillion
between 2000 and 2010, a massive 641 percent
increase.
Population: The five countries' combined
population will peak at 44 percent of the world
total by 2015 These countries have large
numbers of highly qualified professionals and
technicians.

BRICS characteristics and

influence

BRICS characteristics and

influence

Build global balance to the world

Cooperate with developed countries
Benefit the members
A coordination platform for emerging
economies and a bridge between
developing and developed countries.

BRICS characteristics and influence

but currently neither has a permanent

secretariat nor serves as a formal
international organization.
a fledgling organization to take shape.
still in its infancy, entailing
strengthened dialogue and
communications among member
countries

BRICS characteristics and

influence

will deepen South-South cooperation, change the

game rules of international finance and trade, and
give developing countries more rights to speak.
will restructure the global pattern of economy,
trade and diplomacy.
Will improve international circumstances for
emerging economies, to some extent create a
more healthy and beneficial international
atmosphere, and display a fresh picture of
emerging economies.

BRICS characteristics and

influence
Its expected to help set up a more just and
reasonable international political and
economical order !
The political landscapes:

The influence the BRICS nations have on world politics is

their participation in global efforts for good governance.

The economic landscapes:

BRICS members have played an irreplaceable role in the

handling of global financial and economic issues.

BRICS characteristics and

influence
Their cooperation can result in a truly win-win
situation.
The BRICS economies import a huge amount of
equipment from developed countries to meet
their urbanization and industrialization demands.
Their combined demand and the developed
countries' capital and technological superiority
can drive global economic growth, and help the
developed economies to recover from the global
economic crisis.

BRICS characteristics and

influence

The expanding market in the five BRICS

countries will boost trade between its
members, and increase the exports of
countries in Africa, Latin America and
Southeast Asia.
Growing ODI (overseas direct investment)
boosts regional cooperation.
The principle: seeking common ground while
shelving differences.

BRICS benefits the members

Seeking common ground while

shelving differences

BRICS characteristics and

influence

BRICS challenges and future

GDP

BRICS challenges and future

They have to deal with domestic problems and
have to
take measures to narrow the large income gap
improve their social security systems
increase the pace of industrialization
take steps to control inflation

stem the flow of hot money into their

economies.

BRICS challenges and future

BRICS is currently a loosely connected

economic forum.

There have been frictions in the

relationships of the five countries. China
has border disputes with India, trade
disputes with Brazil.

Enlargement of BRICS will be

slow

BRICS, now covering Eurasia, South America and

Africa, has gained adequate representativeness.
a larger membership was likely to hold up the
consensus-building process,
a hasty enlargement was likely to impede its
decision-making ability, the priority now is to
strengthen the cohesion of the current five members.
Though the mechanism is open and welcomes those
with considerable economic strength, population size,
regional representativeness and international
influence when the time is ripe.

Suggestions for BRICS

Increase their coordination in the

framework of large international
meetings such as the G20 and the UN
General Assembly.
Build a dispute and crisis management
mechanism to cope with possible
international frictions.
Slowly enlarge BRICS.

Thanks

Email:wangguoan@mail.zjgsu.edu.c
n
http://econet.zjgsu.edu.cn/andrew.w
ang
136-00516079