Chongqing - China hosted the 14th BRICS Summit on June 23 and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development on June 24 in virtual format. Directors from the BRICS Studies Institute Center of Sichuan International Studies University and the coordinator of International Cooperation and Investments in IPEA-Brazilian Government Think Tank shared their insights from the perspective of politics & diplomacy, finance & economy, culture & education, and sustainable development respectively with iChongqing.

The leading power 

The summit theme is "Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development." Prof. Zhu Tianxiang, the director of BRICS Studies Institute Center for Political & Security of SISU, shared his insight into the theme. He thought that "high-quality" means BRICS cooperation should be much more result-oriented. Quality instead of quantity needs to be further emphasized in the process of BRICS cooperation, which is the real driving force for BRICS's brighter future. Currently, the Ukraine crisis and the COVID19 are two challenges worth focusing on. Thus, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed two initiatives: the global security initiative and the global development initiative. In Prof. Zhu's opinion, BRICS is qualified to be the leading power to improve global security as well as global development of governance.

Strengthening economic and trade cooperation

When the global economy has suffered a lot from challenging world circumstances, in the opinion of Prof. Shen Huaqiao, the director of BRICS Studies Institute Center for Economic & Financial Studies of SISU, the summit will confirm our confidence in strengthening economic and trade cooperation. The key to enhancing competitiveness is to boost innovation. The digital economy has played a critical role during the pandemic. It is crucial for the economic recovery of five countries.

Abundant positive decisions

Zhang Qing, the director of BRICS Studies Institute Center for People-to-people Exchange Studies of SISU, said cultural exchanges and education cooperation had consolidated friendship among people, which is the foundation of BRICS cooperation. An agreement on cultural cooperation was signed several years ago, spawning a host of colorful cooperative cultural activities in art, sports, media, think tanks, and medicine. He said we have every reason to believe that the 14th BRICS Summit will yield abundant positive ideas, policies, and decisions on BRICS cooperation in education and culture.

The adoption of cleaner projects

Regarding sustainable development, Prof. Renato Baumann, the International Cooperation and Investments coordinator in IPEA-Brazilian Government Think Tank, said BRICS countries could start intensifying the adoption of cleaner projects. The BRICS New Development Bank can play a more critical role. BRICS countries can achieve sustainable development through exchanging technology, knowledge, and empirical experiences.