With the accession of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, the scope of local currency loans of the BRICS New Development Bank is expected to be further expanded. Local currency loans will make borrowers from the Global South less exposed to US dollar fluctuations, which is conducive to enhancing the financial resilience of countries in the Global South.
The United States and its allies treat countries in the Global South differently, rather than building broader cooperation with the Global South as a whole.
Emerging and developing economies accounted for 51 percent of global GDP in 20083%, surpassing the total GDP of advanced economies;In 2022, the share of emerging and developing economies further increased to 583%, 16 more than the share of advanced economies6 percentage points.
Independence is the political background of the Global South, development and revitalization are the historical mission of the Global South, and fairness and justice are the common propositions of the Global South.
Text |Shen Chen, Xu Xiujun.
Equipment for the Dea wind power project operated by China Longyuan Power Group South Africa in Dea Town, Northern Cape Province, South Africa (photo taken on November 22, 2021) by Lv Tianran.
For a long time, the Global South has been essentially synonymous with the group of countries referred to by the concepts of the South, developing countries, underdeveloped countries, third world countries, etc. These countries have historical memories of being invaded or colonized by the Global North, and are generally characterized by low per capita national income, heavy dependence on the primary sector, high population density, and poor infrastructure, thus forming a multi-dimensional hierarchical relationship with the rich and developed Global North.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the countries of the Global South, represented by the BRICS, have developed rapidly, and the Global South has shown an all-round rise in economic, political and diplomatic dimensions, becoming the driving force for the deep evolution of the great changes unseen in a century.
The Global South has become an international hotspot.
In recent years, the Global South has increasingly become a hot spot of international attention. Countries in the Global South, represented by the BRICS countries, have actively promoted practical cooperation in various fields. In particular, the BRICS expansion process started in 2023 has further united the strength of the Global South and strengthened the voice of the Global South.
As the chair of the 2023 BRICS Summit, South Africa has invited dozens of leaders from the Global South to attend the BRICS-Africa Meeting and the BRICS+ Dialogue, as well as leaders of international and regional organizations such as the UN Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Ahead of the 2023 BRICS Summit, more than 40 countries expressed their desire to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism, and 22 countries officially submitted applications to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism. On August 24, 2023 local time, the 15th BRICS Summit announced that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia would be invited to officially become members of the BRICS family.
With the accession of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, the scope of local currency loans of the BRICS New Development Bank is expected to be further expanded. About a quarter of the loans currently issued by the NDB are disbursed in local currencies, such as in renminbi or the South African rand. The New Development Bank plans to provide $30 billion in financial support to member countries in 2022-2026, 30% of which will be provided in the local currencies of the BRICS countries. Local currency loans will make borrowers from the Global South less exposed to US dollar fluctuations, which is conducive to enhancing the financial resilience of countries in the Global South.
From 2022 to 2025, the Global South will hold the G20 presidency for four consecutive years: Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023, Brazil in 2024 and South Africa in 2025. Against the backdrop of ideological competition in Western countries taking advantage of the Ukraine crisis, the presidency of the Global South is conducive to keeping the G20 under pressure and bringing the global governance agenda back into the realm of economic development, such as debt relief for developing countries, reducing global inflation, access to affordable medicines, and climate justice.
After the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, Western dignitaries such as Biden in the United States, Macron, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have mentioned the "Global South" on different occasions, which is also one of the driving factors for this concept to become an international hot spot. This reflects the perceived rise of the Global South in developed countries, but this focus is more about exploitation and fragmentation.
The 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit invites countries from the Global South such as India, Indonesia, Brazil, Comoros, the Cook Islands and Vietnam as guest countries, with the aim of strengthening ties with countries in the Global South at multiple levels such as economic, political and security. In particular, Western countries are trying to use some countries in the Global South to build a new global chain network, so as to improve their so-called "chain resilience". For example, the United States and Europe have actively established partnerships with India, Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries to jointly formulate and implement the first-chain transfer plan, and promote high-tech enterprises such as chips, communications and electric vehicles to accelerate investment in Southeast Asia and South Asia. At the same time, Western countries have also initiated the establishment of exclusive economic mechanisms such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) by absorbing some countries in the Global South, and also intend to seize the right to formulate global rules on issues such as infrastructure and the digital economy.
It is worth noting that the G7 has actively persuaded the Global South to "decouple" from Russia, but has not proposed any substantive measures to help emerging economies and developing countries. The G7 post-Hiroshima joint communiqué did not even use the term "Global South," but vaguely stated that the G7 would work with "regional," "voluntary," and "like-minded" partners to achieve a "free and open Indo-Pacific order" and a "rule-of-law-based international order." For countries in the Global South that are not so-called "like-minded", developed countries are more likely to threaten sanctions. It can be seen that the United States and its allies treat the countries of the Global South differently rather than establish broader cooperation with the Global South as a whole.
The rise of the Global South behind the hot spots.
Behind the emergence of the Global South as an international hotspot is its all-round rise in economic, political, diplomatic and other dimensions.
First, the rise of the economy. The Global South has long been synonymous with fragile and backward economies, but in the 21st century, countries in the Global South have become an important driving force for world economic development with their huge demographic dividend and rapidly growing economic strength.
According to statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), advanced economies accounted for 63% of global gross domestic product (GDP) in purchasing power parity terms in 19901%, compared to 36 in emerging and developing economies9%；In 2008, emerging and developing economies accounted for 51 percent of global GDP3% share, which surpasses the total GDP of advanced economies;In 2022, the share of emerging and developing economies further increased to 583%, 16 more than the share of advanced economies6 percentage points.
The contribution of emerging economies and developing countries represented by the BRICS countries to global economic growth will continue to be ahead of that of developed economies represented by the G7, and China will continue to be the largest contributor to global economic growth in the next five years.
The second is political consciousness. Developing countries, such as China, have shown other countries in the Global South a different path from Western modernization.
The successful experience of Chinese-style modernization shows that developing countries should explore a path of modernization suitable for their own development in light of their own national conditions. Chinese modernization has broken the monopoly of the West on the theory and practice of modernization, and has demonstrated the ability of the Global South to pursue its own development path, formulate its own development plan, and ultimately form an independent political model and development path without interference from global capital and external political forces.
The third is diplomatic independence. After the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, countries in the Global South generally insisted on diplomatic independence and strategic autonomy, and rejected Western pressure to take a "tough stance" against Russia.
There are two reasons why the Global South resists pressure from Western countries. On the one hand, the attitude of Western countries towards military conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and other regions is in stark contrast to their response to the Ukraine crisis, which has made the countries of the Global South realize the double standards and racial bias of the United States and EuropeOn the other hand, the vast number of countries in the Global South advocate maintaining their own foreign policy and economic growth goals, and hope to minimize the impact of geopolitical conflicts on their own development.
The countries of the Global South should not be construed as sitting idly by, refusing to take sides in geopolitical conflicts, but rather becoming more and more involved in international affairs, such as actively promoting the reform of international organizations and advocating multilateralism, enhancing their own voice and influence on issues such as development, security, climate change, and injecting new impetus and vitality into global governance.
Prospects and opportunities for cooperation in the Global South.
The inequality of the global economy, the widening gap between the North and the South, is rooted in the fact that the colonialist and imperialist policies pursued by the Global North throughout history have created an unequal playing field from the outset. In recent years, the overlapping systemic shocks of the pandemic, the Ukraine crisis, and climate change have highlighted the vulnerability of low- and middle-income countries to political, economic, and ecological crises of their own making. Despite the overall rise in the international status of the countries of the Global South, they are still marginalized in the decision-making systems of major international organizations such as the World Organization, the International Monetary Organization and the World Bank, and the countries of the Global South have the phenomenon of "aphasia" and "dislocation" in global economic governance.
Promoting the building of a new international political and economic order is the fundamental way to safeguard the interests of the Global South. Countries in the Global South have questioned the Western-led international system, called for reform and restructuring of the global governance system, and tried to explore a development path suitable for their own national conditions and a more inclusive and fair global governance model, and put forward a global governance agenda different from that of the Global North based on their own interests and needs.
With the rise of the Global South, developing countries represented by China are participating in the reform and improvement of the global governance system with unprecedented breadth, depth and intensity. China advocates the concept of global governance based on extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, continuously enhances the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries in international affairs, and resists developed countries from engaging in "small circles" and "small groups". On the one hand, China, together with other countries in the Global South, has always firmly upheld the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, and the multilateral system with the world organization at its core, and promoted the transformation of the G20 into a long-term governance mechanism. On the other hand, China has also actively built a new platform for global economic governance and South-South cooperation, proposed the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, accelerated the expansion of the BRICS and the local currency financing of the BRICS New Development Bank, provided more perspectives and options for in-depth cooperation in the Global South, and promoted the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation.
At present, despite the initial progress made by the international community in achieving the goals of the sustainable development agenda, global development is still unbalanced and inadequate. In particular, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has suffered a certain degree of setbacks recently due to multiple factors such as intensified geopolitical conflicts, slowing post-pandemic recovery, and slowing North-South cooperation. According to the United Nations, more than 800 million people worldwide are still suffering from hunger,3500 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, the vast majority of whom are from the Global South. In this context, strengthening solidarity and cooperation in the Global South is conducive to promoting the sharing of knowledge, skills and resources among developing countries, and enhancing their capacity to address global challenges in climate, food and energy, so as to achieve the commitments and goals of the 2030 Agenda to "leave no one behind".
In the long run, the trend towards greater participation in global governance by the Global South will not change as a result of current challenges and difficulties. Independence is the political background of the Global South, development and revitalization are the historical mission of the Global South, and fairness and justice are the common propositions of the Global South. The participation of countries in the Global South will provide more perspectives and options for global governance, help improve the fairness and rationality of the international order, and resist the "small circles" and "small groups" of developed countries. The Global South can further leverage existing platforms such as the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism and the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries to build deeper and operational partnerships, deepen cooperation in poverty reduction, food security, green development, industrialization, digital economy, connectivity and other areas, and meet the common aspirations of the Global South for development and revitalization.
Shen Chen: Assistant Researcher, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social SciencesXu Xiujun is a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Outlook, No. 52, 2023).