The previous sections looked at the broad trends within the BRICS+ countries essentially in isolation from each other. These trends, however, do not reveal a great deal as to whether BRICS+ countries are moving toward becoming a bloc, coordinating policy efforts and collectively challenging the existing status quo. For this we need to look at interactions among the BRICS+ countries and between the BRICS+ and the West. This chapter addresses the extent to which the BRICS+ are cooperating strategically on economic governance issues. It reviews changes in geographical trade patterns for BRICS+ in last 10‒20 years and examines their proposals and efforts for reforming the global economic and financial system. The next chapter will look at strategic diplomatic cooperation connections and BRICS+ approaches to security issues.

TRADE

The last two decades have been a period of a very rapid expansion in international trade and BRICS+ countries have been at the forefront of this. From 1995 to 2010 their exports increased by a factor of 6.3. In China the growth was even more breathtaking as its exports increased more than tenfold in the same period. Exports from other BRICS+ countries expanded at a slower but still brisk rate – by 4.4 times in the same period. As a result the importance of BRICS+ countries, especially China, in global merchandise trade has increased greatly in the last 10-15 years (see Figure 9). Together all BRICS+ countries account for more than one-fifth of global exports (see Table 4).

The ratio of foreign trade to GDP in the BRICS+ countries increased from 41.9% in 1995 to 61.0% in 2008 before sliding to 53.6% in 2010 as a result of the global economic crisis. By comparison in the EU this ratio was 78% in 2010. There are substantial differences between individual BRICS+ countries in this respect however. The lowest trade openness ratio was Brazil (23% in 2010) and the highest South Korea (101%).

China is increasingly becoming one of the most important trade partners for BRICS+ countries. The share of China as a destination for BRICS+ exports has been steadily increasing while the shares of the EU and the U.S. have been declining almost as steadily (see Figure 10). However the chart below shows that the EU still remains the main export destination for these emerging economies.