Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Almaty, December 11 /Xinhua/ — The Global South's position in 2025 is characterized by a shift from being influenced by external forces to being an active player in shaping the global agenda. Countries of the South are no longer simply responding to initiatives from the North, but are increasingly setting the parameters for discussions on development, debt obligations, energy transition, and the reform of global institutions. This opinion was expressed by Gulnar Shaimergenova, Director of the Center for China Studies, in an interview with Xinhua.
She noted that this is not about replacing the existing order, but rather about its gradual reformatting toward multipolarity with a growing role for middle powers, which objectively includes Kazakhstan. Against this backdrop, the states of the Global South in 2025 will largely determine the substantive agenda of key multilateral forums—the G20, climate negotiations, and discussions on reforming international financial institutions.
At the same time, she said, the role of alternative formats, primarily BRICS, is also growing. The group's expansion has transformed it into a platform comparable in terms of combined gross domestic product (GDP), purchasing power parity, and share of global growth, and in a number of respects, surpasses traditional clubs of developed countries.
"The BRICS mechanism is attractive to countries of the Global South due to its unique combination of political and diplomatic platforms, development tools, and real economic clout, all without the rigid, ideological conditions of participation," the expert said.
According to her, it is fundamentally important that BRICS does not offer an anti-Western position, but rather an alternative and complementary framework within which developing countries can promote the principles of sovereign choice of development models, respect for cultural diversity, and the inadmissibility of unilateral sanctions, without abandoning cooperation with other partners.
For Kazakhstan, according to G. Shaimergenova, BRICS is an important element of the emerging inclusive multipolarity, capable of strengthening North-South and East-West connectivity, reducing global development imbalances, and expanding opportunities for middle powers in the global governance system.
"In my view, the economic strength of the Global South and its proactive stance on reforming multilateral institutions are a natural consequence of profound structural shifts in the global economy. If managed well, these processes can strengthen global resilience rather than undermine it," she emphasized.
“The optimal model is an inclusive multipolarity, in which the growing influence of the Global South is combined with maintaining open channels of dialogue with developed countries, which meets the long-term interests of both our country and the international community,” noted G. Shaimergenova. –0–
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