Global South must lead world economy as US retreats, Boao Forum told

At annual gathering in south China, experts call for developed world to unite and build new economic system as Trump threatens trade

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The developed world is “no longer a united whole”, according to Kirill Babaev, director of the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Photo: Tsinghua University

Dewey Simin Boao, Hainan

Published: 6:01pm, 26 Mar 2025Updated: 10:45am, 28 Mar 2025

Global South countries must lead the world economy in the face of a changing economic order and Washington’s retreat from global affairs, according to a panel at the Boao Forum for Asia in south China’s Hainan province on Wednesday.

The assessment came amid rising uncertainty emanating from the White House as US President Donald Trump’s actions, including tariffs, threatened to fracture the international trade system.

Kirill Babaev, director of the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said it was important for developing economies to unite and “have the moral authority to lead the global economy”.

He noted that the Global South had always been described in opposition to developed countries, or the Global North, but “the reality has changed”. The Global North was “no longer a united whole”, with deep differences among countries, he said.

Babaev said the Global South, which encompassed most of the world’s countries, shared similar economic and social views, including an opposition to trade barriers such as tariffs and a respect for the political systems of other nations.

“We are consistent in the values of globalisation and the principles we uphold. Based on these principles, most countries in the world must … build a new economic system. Such a system has gradually emerged on the world stage,” he said.