New powers challenge old rules of world trade

Recently the Doha round of the World Trade Organization negotiations ended without any progress. Pessimistic observers believe this means globalization is doomed. From a macro point of view, however, it only signifies that the era when the United States and the European Union (EU) set the rules of international affairs is about to end. The rising tide of regionalization and linking up of markets worldwide reflect the reality that globalization has affected every fiber of the world economy, while the rise of emerging economies symbolizes that globalization has entered a new era.

In the fall of 2003, US investment giant Goldman Sachs published a thesis titled Dreaming with BRICs: the Path to 2050. The paper for the first time puts emerging powers - Brazil, Russia, India and China - on the same plane in a fresh forward look at the layout of world economic development toward the mid-21st century. The acronym BRIC has since become a key word in observing the current global economy. Behind the scene is the rise of emerging and transforming economies, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where the simultaneous rise of multiple economic powers makes it the most dynamic corner in the world.

Against this backdrop it has become an important topic in the area of international economics to justify and rationalize the global economic order. The rise of emerging market economies foretells a reconfiguration of the power structure in the world. The participation of emerging markets such as the BRIC nations in globalization will unavoidably help make the world economic order more just and reasonable.