Brics and China unite for a groundbreaking commodities exchange system

Source: Brics Competition Law and Policy Centre.

As quoted in the report presented at the forum, “the Brics Competition Law and Policy Centre and the Center for Competition Policy and Expertise of the State Administration for Market Regulation of China (SAMR) signed a cooperation agreement.

"A separate point of co-operation will be research work on the development of exchange trade in commodities and raw materials between Russia and China and Brics countries as a whole”.

Alexei Ivanov, director of the Brics Competition Law and Policy Centre, noted that in 2022, an agreement was signed between the governments of Russia and China on cooperation in antitrust enforcement and competition policy.

“It is symbolic that two years later, during Russia's Brics presidency, we were able to conclude a memorandum of expert cooperation on competition protection with China's leading antitrust centre,” said Alexey Ivanov, director of the Brics Competition Law and Policy Centre.

"If entrepreneurs in Russia and China work directly through modern exchange mechanisms, this will not only establish direct long-term ties but also reduce prices for end consumers by eliminating intermediary schemes."

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The task of experts and researchers in this regard is to develop a system of organisational, legal and economic measures and analyse the necessary conditions for the creation of exchange platforms and the development of exchange trade, including in the Brics format.

Together with Chinese academic partners, namely the SAMR Center for Competition Policy and Expertise and the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IRVECA CAON), we will soon be ready to present ready-made solutions to the regulators of our countries,” Ivanov added.

The parties also discussed the possibility of conducting joint studies aimed at promoting competition from the perspective of the needs of emerging economies in the Brics space, and agreed to exchange information on key activities.

Strengthening Brics co-operation

Meng Yang, vice minister of SAMR, expressed the Chinese antitrust regulator's readiness to strengthen cooperation in the Brics format, outlining several priority areas.

In particular, he spoke about the coordination of Brics working groups on competition in socially important markets, as well as ongoing projects, including a study of competition issues in the biosimilar market within the framework of the working group on competition in pharmaceutical markets. A meeting of this working group was held earlier this week.

In general, the past meetings and the signing of the treaty, as the parties agree, testify to the active development of cooperation between the two countries in the field of competition law.

They also expressed confidence that the forthcoming Brics summit in Kazan, which will be held in October this year, will bring even more concrete solutions to projects in this area and give even more impetus to the development of this area of cooperation.

Chairing the Brics+ in 2024, Russia is actively working on the comprehensive implementation of the Brics Economic Partnership Strategy 2025 and the realisation of the Action Plan on Innovation Cooperation for 2021-2024.

Special emphasis was placed on discussing and finding solutions for regulation in the field of competition law and antitrust policy.