Illustration: GT

The BRICS Summit kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday. It is interesting to note that France was looking to attend the gathering of the emerging economies, which shows that the clout of the countries in the Global South is increasing and the emerging economies are getting more and more attention.
The status of developed countries is currently declining, and their influence is weakening, while the relevance of states in the Global South is increasing. As the most representative "club" of emerging countries, the BRICS group naturally attracts increasing attention and is ever more influential.  
As a platform for cooperation between emerging and developing countries, the BRICS group is committed to maintaining multilateralism, actively promoting the reform of the global economic system, and strengthening the representation and voice of these countries with stable and constructive forces.
Many countries are tired of the fact that the US, and the West on tow, have almost economically dominated the entire world for decades, forcing and imposing transactions in dollars, with the fear that failure to comply with US directives would result in economic and financial sanctions and blackmail. In contrast, the BRICS group is open to helping countries develop, as well as promoting investment and trade, and never imposes preconditions.
More importantly, the BRICS group defends multipolarization and multilateralism. By defending multilateralism, the BRICS countries are fighting against the concept of the Cold War and opening the possibility of building a fairer and more equitable international economic order from which the world can benefit.
The BRICS' main mission is to stand up for the interests of developing countries. BRICS is in line with world trends that are consistent with those of most countries. This means that the BRICS group expanding is only a matter of time.
As an increasing number of regional powers are interested in joining the BRICS group - which shows the growing influence of the organization as a new geopolitical force - this also indicates that the current US-led international order - particularly the economic order and the financial system - shall face increasingly severe challenges. 
Since many developing countries are regional economic powers, many analysts believe that once they are included in the group, this will not only increase the size of the BRICS group but also enable the BRICS countries to unleash more power at the international level. In particular, this poses a challenge to the current US and West-dominated international economic and financial order. Therefore, some Western analysts and media outlets have hyped the group as an anti-American and anti-Western camp.
The Italian example is enough to weigh the fear of being accused of "anti-Americanism." Our government has an old nostalgic Fascist basis, but in view of showing loyalty to the US ally - which annihilated Italian Fascism - anything related to "Communist China" should be rejected, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, or feared, such as the BRICS group. The same holds true, for different reasons or fears, for other Western countries, but not for France.
According to data from last May, the BRICS group accounts for about 25 percent of the planet's total land area and is home to more than 40 percent of the world's population. The BRICS countries have become a global economic force that can compete with the G7. This is evidenced by data released by the BRICS group, which shows its superiority to the G7 for the first time: the BRICS countries' contribution rate to the global economy has reached 31.5 percent, while that of the G7 stands at 30.4 percent.
Furthermore, the BRICS countries are committed to achieving a few economic, political and security goals by strengthening global stability, peace and economic cooperation among the five countries. This will help break Western hegemony, thus creating a multipolar global economic system.
Another important goal of the group is that the five emerging powers hope to strengthen their position in the world through proactive cooperation among themselves, particularly by eradicating poverty, solving unemployment, and promoting economic and social integration. They commit to achieving global economic growth and working together to ensure higher quality growth by encouraging innovative economic development based on advanced technology. Additionally, they seek to increase participation and cooperation with non-BRICS countries, promote security and peace for economic growth and political stability, and commit to reforming international financial institutions to give emerging and developing economies a greater say in decision-making. They also work with the international community to maintain the stability of the multilateral trading system and improve the international trade and investment environment. Furthermore, they make efforts to achieve the early Millennium Development Goals related to sustainable development through multilateral environmental agreements, coordinate and cooperate with the countries of the group in the field of rational energy use to combat climate change, and provide humanitarian assistance and reduce the risk of natural disasters, including addressing issues such as global food security.
Moreover, the BRICS countries carry out scientific and educational cooperation and participate in basic research and advanced technology development. The members of the group expect that achieving these goals will provide new momentum to global economic cooperation.
Judging from the current world situation, the BRICS and G7 groups have become a basis and a forum for an exchange of views between the alliance of developed countries and that among developing countries. The future influence of the BRICS group is expected to outweigh that of the G7 group.
Emerging economies, especially BRICS countries, have experienced vigorous economic growth and have become important drivers of global economic development. However, faced with these changes, European countries haven't responded actively. Apart from France's aspirations to seek European strategic autonomy, examples from Italy and other countries speak for themselves: missed opportunities for development, hindered by terrorism, ignorance and political incompetence.

The author is Honorable de l'Académie des Sciences de l'Institut de France and Honorary Professor at the Peking University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn