SHANGHAI, February 11. /TASS/. The West can no longer be the so-called globalization leader, while the emergence of BRICS in this context is timely, a Chinese university professor told TASS on Saturday.

Shen Yi, Director of the Center for BRICS Studies at Fudan University, said Western countries had encountered inflation and economic problems domestically after going on a consumption spree in the wake of the Cold War. "From a global consumption point of view, this primarily manifests itself in a period where the world is facing problems and challenges, including the spread of COVID-19, economic growth, climate change, etc., and Western countries can no longer offer an effecicent public product and are unable to act as the so-called leader and driving force of globalization," he believes.

"In this context, the emergence and development of BRICS cooperation mechanism can be considered timely," the expert said as he described the practical cooperation model as mature.

"This can lure other developing markets and the developed world," Shen argued. According to him, BRICS can make substantial progress and expand in the next decade.

In 2006, Brazil, Russia, India and China created the BRIC group, which turned into BRICS after South Africa joined the four nations in 2011. This year, South Africa is chairing the group for the third time.