BEIJING - President Xi Jinping has called for strengthening global economic governance at a time when the world economy faces strong headwinds on its path toward recovery and global development has suffered major setbacks amid an unprecedented pandemic.

"We should promote extensive consultation and joint contribution to deliver shared benefits, enhance global economic governance, and increase the representation and say of emerging markets and developing countries. This will ensure that all countries enjoy equal rights, follow the rules as equals, and share equal opportunities," Xi said in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday.

The BRICS mechanism of five major emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- has traveled a glorious path since its inception in 2006.

Accounting for 23 percent of the global economy, 18 percent of trade in goods and 25 percent of foreign investment, BRICS countries have formed an important force that cannot be ignored in the world economy.

"The unstoppable rise of emerging markets and developing countries has injected strong impetus to the reform of the global economic governance system," Xi said at the plenary session of the BRICS Brasilia summit in 2019.

BRICS POWER

The world's economic center of gravity has been shifting from the North to the developing South, said the Global Development Report issued Monday by the Center for International Knowledge on Development.

The gross domestic product share of emerging markets and developing countries in the global economy evaluated by purchasing power parity increased from roughly the same as that of advanced economies during the financial crisis to nearly 60 percent in 2020, the report said.

The global governance system is being rapidly reshaped, with developing countries making more of their voices heard. Meanwhile, more global governance platforms are emerging. The G20, BRICS, and a variety of regional and sub-regional cooperation bodies are playing an increasingly important role, according to the report.

In 2014, the BRICS countries decided to establish the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

Xi once said the moves have "provided financing support for infrastructure building and sustainable development of the BRICS countries, contributing to enhanced global economic governance and the building of an international financial safety net."

From renewable energy projects in Brazil to railway network upgrade programs in India and new toll roads in Russia, the New Development Bank has approved more than 80 projects in member countries and handed out 30 billion U.S. dollars in loans.

According to the bank, from 2022 to 2026, it will provide 30 billion U.S. dollars of financial support for member countries, with 40 percent of the funds to be used for mitigating global warming.

At the plenary session of the BRICS Xiamen summit, Xi called for efforts to advance the reform of global economic governance, increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries, and inject new impetus into the efforts to address the development gap between the North and South and boost global growth.

"The development of the emerging markets and developing countries is not intended to move the cheese of anyone but to make the pie of the global economy bigger," Xi said in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum in 2017.

"We should join hands to steer the course of economic globalization, offer more vision and public goods, make the governance model and rules more balanced and inclusive, and improve and reshape international division of labor and global value chains," Xi said on the same occasion.