The headquarters building of the New Development Bank in the Pudong New District in Shanghai China. [Photo/Xinhua]

In yet another resounding achievement for the group of emerging economies, BRICS member states convened virtually for their latest summit. Support for multilateral trading and robust connectivity reforms can be seen in China's push to prioritize win-win cooperation, and prepares the ground for deeper international engagement. 

The widespread promise of BRICS' enduring vision for the future is reflected on a variety of levels: The group convened on the back of the New Development Bank (NDB) financing over 100 projects across infrastructure, clean energy and digital development, and has presented a principled defense of a multilateral trading system that is increasingly in need of protection from external shocks. These wide-ranging priorities on shaping the trajectory of the Global South are critical to driving forward a vision of common development that the world could learn from.

Let's first examine the significance of the NDB. The bank has positioned itself as a linchpin of cooperative finance for scores of Global South states, some of which have achieved mixed results via conditional lending from select institutions. Moreover, they have witnessed the perils of limited negotiating leverage to cater to their domestic growth targets. Multibillion dollar support for strengthening the NDB is therefore a tacit endorsement of the sustainable development momentum sought by these states, and a testament to upholding what BRICS sees as genuine multilateralism. 

Central to the exercise of multilateralism is the ability of participating member states to create the necessary conditions – including those involving financial institutions – to streamline resource access, distribution and future development support for the Global South. For these reasons, China's alignment of multilateral practice with the five principles of the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) is a clear move to shape future international participatory decision-making for the benefit of relatively less advantaged states. 

The virtual BRICS summit also demonstrates that the democratization of international relations is a work in progress. The grouping has steadily expanded its ranks to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia and others to boost international representation at a time when the bloc accounts for around 30% of global economic output. That manufacturing capacity and productivity strength deserves to be distributed more evenly among states with the potential to drive it forward, an important factor when considering that BRICS representation spans multiple continents. 

The need to democratize international relations has been a recurring message from key institutions, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), but BRICS' active role helps catalyze the change among more states around the world. As Pakistan's ambassador to the WTO, Ali Sarfraz Hussain, recently pointed out, the GGI is an attractive mechanism to soften pressures on the international system. Taken in the context of BRICS, the virtual summit plays a pivotal role in exploring the intersection of multilateral practice with cooperative governance principles of the GGI. "[The GGI is] anchored in multilateralism and underscores the importance of safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres recently affirmed.

The proposal to leverage the distinct strengths of BRICS nations – including in the development space – sends a powerful message regarding priorities. Efforts to streamline business, financial and technological engagements can prove to be of significant value in broadening BRICS' development contribution to the Global South. For instance, China's success in advancing internationally competitive R&D investments and climate-friendly technological innovations finds a complementary match in the financial interests of countries such as South Africa. South Africa's aspirations to cement itself as a growth and innovation engine in Africa reflects common resolve on shared development. 

The BRICS virtual summit goes many steps ahead: It marks the amalgamation of emerging economies across development stages, united under the banner of multilateralism where billions of dollars in present and future assistance offer much promise across sectors. Add in the robust political will of all states, including the newly expanded ranks within BRICS, and we can understand that united symbolism for world peace has its roots in transformative technologies, meaningful diplomacy and a shared desire to promote global progress. Counterproductive notions of absolute security, unilateralism, zero-sum decoupling and excessive supply chain controls stand effectively challenged under a truly cooperative, rules-based multilateral order.

Sustainable development and quality growth support cannot be viewed in isolation. It is clear that the world is increasingly at odds with the targets set by the UN sustainable development agenda, requiring tangible pathways that help bridge divisions and chart a more promising path toward progress. This could require long-overdue emphasis on the distinct development needs of the Global South, spread across the sustainable development goals – from water and air quality to various indicators of genuine empowerment. It is here that BRICS' long-term track record of financing digital development sectors and clean energy projects helps generate optimism in scoring future sector-specific expertise. 

Today, the BRICS grouping accounts for approximately one-fifth of all international trade, a figure that underscores its deep operational familiarity with the demands of a globalized economy. This substantial economic weight provides the bloc with significant leverage to pursue its critical objective – sharing the benefits of trade and development with countries in need. This mission is reinforced by the bloc's inherent strengths, as its members are major repositories of natural resources, large-scale manufacturers and vast consumer markets. BRICS nations have consistently argued that their closer collaboration directly enhances this collective resilience and resourcefulness, making them more effective in mitigating external risks and challenges for themselves and their partners.

Growing trade friction around the world has created the need for closer external risk management. Evidence as far as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) suggests that countries have hedged against external challenges to growth, and the advent of tariff spikes brings home a broader message on navigating volatilities. The strength of BRICS lies in forging contingencies against external economic pressures, and has succeeded in translating a united resolve through consistent diplomatic common-ground. Past BRICS meetings, and the growing consensus among members on action points, capture that diversity and consistency to great effect. 

As such, the recent virtual summit takes a major leap forward on shared global progress. It marks a continuation of the process of greater openness and inclusiveness in a world increasingly fraught by economic headwinds and limited headway on Global South representation.

Hannan Hussain is co-founder and senior expert at Initiate Futures, an Islamabad-based policy think tank.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.