Comparison of the BRICS and G7 summits shows which group is laying the foundation for the future

It is said that Russians love the number seven just like the lucky number eight that many Chinese are fond of.

So, at the BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia, on July 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with the leaders of Brazil, China, India and South Africa, signed a document, the Ufa Declaration, consisting of 77 items of consensus and action plans ranging from peace to development issues.

This, many say, shows Russia's tendency to deliver memorable outcomes when the leaders meet.

The declaration made clear the emerging economies' political positions on pressing global challenges regarding peace and development. It also showed their common strategy of economic partnership has laid a solid foundation for deeper cooperation among the five countries, which contributed to more than half of the global economic growth in the past decade.

On top of this is their quick action in putting the New Development Bank into operation.

The BRICS countries have also held dialogues with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its observer countries. A long list of consensus and action plans to build railways, roads and implement other infrastructure projects and connectivity was announced after the SCO summit as well.

Of course, the news also includes that the process of accepting India and Pakistan as formal members of the SCO has started, while the BRICS and SCO countries have agreed to collectively act to implement China's Belt and Road Initiative and Russia's Eurasian Economic Union.

Beyond economic cooperation, the emerging and developing countries showed their greatest sincerity in the documents through respecting history and commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, including defeating fascism and militarism, China's victory over Japan's aggression and the birth of the United Nations.

While announcing that the leaders of all five other SCO members, including Russia, will attend China's commemoration activities in September, Chinese officials announced that President Xi Jinping has sent an invitation to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Many of the outcomes of the Ufa summit have naturally been compared to the summit of the alliance of the world's advanced economies, or Group of 7, in Germany one month ago.

A comparative reading of the final documents from the summits shows the difference in mindsets, approaches and solutions toward domestic and global challenges.

Encouragingly, both groups have shown concern and proposed solutions to solving economic challenges and indicated their determination in climate change and development issues.

Worryingly, the developed economies are inward-looking and provide more promises than action. For example, they are still talking about the $100 billion climate fund to be offered to developing economies, the same promise offered five years ago when the Copenhagen summit was held.

Also worryingly, in reading through the declaration of the G7 countries, they did not mention a single word about the 70th anniversary of the setting up of the United Nations, a global umbrella of peace and development, even though within the club, the United States, France and the United Kingdom are permanent members of the Security Council.

They failed to mention that this year is the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, even though Europeans were among the victims of the atrocities committed by the fascists and militarists.

The reason for the failure to do so is clear: Japan is in the G7 club. But the developed countries' failure to express their stance in the document is worrying.

Since the rise of emerging economies, such as China and India, the developed countries have always asked them to shoulder more international responsibility.

In reading the documents of the Ufa summit, these countries have taken it upon themselves to do so. They have contributed and will continue to contribute to global growth by channeling their collective resources into developing economies by scaling up cooperation.

They have shown their clear commitment to protect the international order of peace established after World War II by remembering history.

But the developed economies have shunned any announcement of large cooperative economic plans. Instead, they intend to impose restrictive measures and protectionism against developing economies.

Most worryingly, they have avoided the occasions to remember historic events. On May 9, Western leaders were absent from Russia's celebration of its victory in WWII, though German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Russia the day after.

Many have guessed that Abe might follow Merkel's example to visit Beijing on the second day after China's celebration. Xi has open-mindedly sent an invitation and it is up to Abe to decide.

This world needs leadership, especially from the developed countries. An essential part of that is respecting history - it is risky if they shun that responsibility. In the latter half of this year, the advanced countries and developing economies have a good chance at UN meetings, the G20 and APEC summits to find where they agree.

The author is China Daily chief correspondent in Brussels. Contact the writer at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/17/2015 page13)