The BRICS mechanism has been running for 10 years. Over the past decade, the cooperative mechanism grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has witnessed continuous growth, offering the world a more pragmatic solution to political and economic challenges.

After years of development, the cooperative mechanism has gone beyond the fields of economy and trade. Now, the five members have enhanced mutual understanding, achieved complementarity and win-win cooperation.

Their collaboration has reached governmental and social levels, as well as many spheres including politics, economy and culture.

On the education front, for instance, the BRICS University League and the BRICS Network University, two multilateral cooperative mechanisms, have promoted BRICS countries to jointly conduct research and cultivate talents.

They also provided a new platform for bilateral and multilateral dialogues, exchanges and collaboration, and offered advice and suggestions to solving common challenges that the bloc is faced with.

Over the past decade, the five countries’ economic share in the global GDP has increased from 12 to 23 percent, accounting for over 50 percent of world’s economic growth.

Among the five countries, China is the biggest contributor to the global growth. The country’s increasing economic aggregate has exerted great influence on other BRICS countries in trade, investment and other fields. Its economic success is benefiting all people and its rational and pragmatic way when dealing with international affairs has been connecting countries instead of alienating them like some other nations did.

The New Development Bank (NDB) initiated by the bloc can be called all-round innovation, as it has achieved institutional innovation by granting each member country the fair right to vote and develop. As an important tool for reforming global governance, the bank will help the member countries break the glass ceiling in the monetary and financial systems of the West.

As representatives of emerging markets and developing countries, the BRICS countries have been backing world multi-polarization and democratization of international relations. Increasing the voice of the BRICS countries was proposed at the first BRICS Summit in Russia in 2009.

I hope the BRICS Xiamen Summit will better deliver the voice of emerging markets and developing countries in global governance.

China has proposed to expand the “circle of friends” of the BRICS countries, which well reflects the inclusiveness and openness of the mechanism and is of innovative significance.

Against the rising tide of trade protectionism, the “BRICS Plus” could become a new model of integration in the global economy and offer an ideal platform for all developing countries to join in the integration campaign.

The BRICS mechanism could promote the interactions between developing and developed countries. In this respect, China is very experienced as the Belt and Road Initiative the country proposed has effectively linked developing and developed world.

The current world is faced with challenges such as anti-globalization trend, and those difficulties can to some extent propel the BRICS countries to better know their direction for development and explore new space for them to engage in global governance in a wider range.

I hope the Xiamen Summit will usher BRICS cooperation into the second “golden decade” and I believe China will play a more important role in the agenda of the bloc.