China and the BRICS

Abstract

China has become an increasingly powerful actor in the global governance landscape. Till the last few years of the twentieth century it was quite content to play a reactive role in international affairs. In the first decade of the twentieth century the ‘Beijing consensus’ started grabbing eyeballs. The coinciding of emergence of BRICS as an influential political coalition along with the emergence of China as an important actor in the international system has the potential to alter the global power structure. Today China seeks to play a more pro-active role and the political leadership has been more assertive in the various international fora in terms of articulating its national interests. Of all the various platforms, the BRICS has been the most important political platform for Chinese leadership to put forward its views on global governance. This article looks at the evolution of China as an influential player in the last one and a half decade. Further, it looks into the evolution of Chinese political discourse in the nine BRICS summits till now. This gives us an idea of the aspirations of the Chinese leadership to reshape the contours of global governance and how it strives to play a critical role in this process.