Constructing a New Anti-Corruption Governance System in the BRICS Countries

Abstract

The traditional framework of global anti-corruption governance has increasingly proved inadequate in responding to emerging challenges, particularly the transformation of the global governance system and the intensification of crossborder corruption. Through their practical anti-corruption efforts, the BRICS countries have developed a distinctive governance model characterized by sovereign equality, mutual benefit, and a development-oriented approach. By adhering to international conventions and fostering multilateral cooperation mechanisms, they have laid an important foundation for reconfiguring the global anti-corruption governance framework. In the course of their governance practice, the BRICS countries have integrated national experience in legal systems and law-enforcement cooperation, thereby constructing a new governance framework. This framework is grounded in the core principles of sovereign equality and mutual benefit, institutionally supported by charter-based guidance and coordination mechanisms, and operationalized through a tripartite structure encompassing dispute settlement, monitoring and evaluation, and phased financial safeguards. It is designed to complement and operate alongside existing international instruments, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), thereby promoting a more inclusive trajectory of global anticorruption governance. The BRICS countries are expected to further refine this emerging governance model by strengthening internal coordination, deepening international collaboration, and advancing technological empowerment. By pursuing these efforts, they aim to provide a pragmatic and viable “BRICS solution” to the persistent challenges of global anti-corruption governance, at the same time contributing to the evolution of a more equitable and just global governance order.