BRICS seeks communication on governance experience

More than 100 experts and observers from the BRICS nations have come together in Fujian to discuss issues connected to governance in emerging markets.

The theme of the two-day seminar is - Openness, Inclusiveness, Mutual Benefits and Win-Win: Working Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind.

2017 BRICS Seminar on Governance held during August 17-18 in Quanzhou, Fujian. [Photo: China Plus]

Robert Kuhn, a respected China expert from the United States, said China is proposing a new vision of global governance with the focus on stability and mutual prosperity; and this strategic blueprint is based on China's domestic governance experience.

"China does not claim that constructing a new order global governance will be accomplished easily or quickly, but it is highly significant that President Xi is making a major commitment in dedicating China to participate actively and to take serious responsibility in this vital initiative for world peace and prosperity. As the world considers global governance structures, including BRICS, China's experience can make a vital contribution," Kuhn said.

Professor Swaran Singh from Jawaharlal Nehru University delivers a speech on August, 18 during the parallel meeting of 2017 BRICS Seminar on Governance in Quanzhou, Fujian. [Photo: China Plus]

BRICS members account for about 23 percent of the world economy. They jointly contributed more than half of global growth in 2016. The grouping, based neither on ideology nor geopolitics, is seen as a new and perhaps better form of global governance in which emerging markets play key roles.

But in recent years, BRICS members and other developing countries have encountered difficulties and setbacks. China, although its economic growth has slowed, remains stable and resilient as it moves toward a "moderately prosperous society" by 2020.

Peking University professor and former World Bank chief economist, Justin Lin Yifu, said the main reason developing economies remaining trapped in middle-income or low-income positions was that most of them followed Western mainstream economic theories and failed to maintain a balance between the market and the state.

"The secret of China's success is its use of both the "invisible hand" and "visible hand', forming an organic integration, complementary and mutual improvement of the functions of the market and the state. As pointed out by President Xi Jinping, the fundamental reason for the success of socialism with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is the reliance on both an efficient market and effective state," Lin noted.

Essop Pahad, the editor of South Africa's Thinker Magazine, said China's experience in governance offers critical lessons for Africa. He especially praised president Xi Jinping's anti-corrupt campaign.

"As President Xi says in the book: "Power is given to us by the people and we must follow the will of the people and work for the people". Therefore, developing clean government is a long-term project and requires patience and commitment. As such, there is no quick fix to development and poverty since it is a gradual process requiring steady and systematic work," Pahad said.

The seminar comes to a close on Friday, and includes three parallel meetings which center respectively on "enhancing reform for common development," "increasing communication for cultural prosperity," and "strengthening collaboration for global governance."

China will host the ninth BRICS annual summit in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen in September as the country takes the rotating chair of the influential bloc.