Current Status of Cultural Trade Development in BRICS Countries

（1） Scale of cultural trade among BRICS countries

In the field of cultural product trade, this report selects the import and export trade data of BRICS countries and core cultural products from the UN Comtrade (United Nations Commodity Trade Database) based on the HS 2002 classification method, and analyzes the scale of cultural trade in BRICS countries from 2017 to 2021. According to Table 1, from 2017 to 2021, the export value of Chinese cultural products was significantly higher than that of other BRICS countries, with India ranking second among the five countries. The export values of Brazil, Russia, and South Africa were basically the same, maintaining a relatively low level; The import value of Chinese cultural products is also significantly higher than that of other BRICS countries, while the export value of other BRICS countries has been similar in the past five years; China maintains a trade surplus in cultural products, while the other four countries maintain a trade deficit in cultural products. In terms of exports, except for Russia, the export value of other BRICS countries has declined in 2020. However, overall, China's export value has shown a relatively obvious growth trend, increasing by 40% from 2017 to 2021. The changes in the other four countries over the past five years are not significant. In terms of imports, India and South Africa both saw a decrease in import value in 2021 compared to 2017, while China, Brazil, and Russia saw an increase.

In the field of cultural services trade, the United Nations' Creative Economy Report 2010 categorizes cultural services into advertising, market research and opinion testing services, research and development services, construction and technical services, personal cultural and leisure services, computer and information services related to the cultural industry, and royalty and licensing fee services. This report analyzes the scale of cultural service trade among BRICS countries from 2017 to 2021, with data sourced from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development database. Overall, from 2017 to 2021, except for India, the cultural service trade of the five countries was mostly in deficit. In terms of exports, unlike cultural product trade, the BRICS countries have maintained an overall growth trend, with China's cultural service exports showing the largest growth rate, increasing by 173% over the past five years. The export advantages of cultural services between China and India are obvious. From 2017 to 2020, India was superior, and China's export value surpassed India for the first time in 2021 (see Table 2). In terms of imports, the import value of cultural services in various countries is higher than that of cultural products, among which the import value of cultural services in China has remained stable at a relatively high level.

表1 2017～2021年金砖国家文化产品贸易规模

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Table 1 Scale of Cultural Product Trade among BRICS Countries from 2017 to 2021

表2 2017～2021年金砖国家文化服务贸易规模

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Table 2 Scale of Cultural Service Trade among BRICS Countries from 2017 to 2021

（2） International competitiveness of cultural trade among BRICS countries

The existing research in the academic community generally uses competitiveness indicators to measure a country's trade competitiveness, providing a reference for measuring the international competitiveness of cultural trade among BRICS countries. Common competitiveness indicators include International Market Share (MS), Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (RCA), and Trade Competitiveness Index (TC).

International market share is the proportion of a country's product or service exports to the total world exports of that product or service, used to measure the international competitiveness or competitive position of a country's product or service. The international market share is positively correlated with the level of trade competitiveness. An increase in the international market share of a product or service means an increase in trade competitiveness, while a decrease in the international market share means a decrease in trade competitiveness. According to the import and export data of cultural products and cultural services provided by the United Nations Commodity Trade Database and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Database, the international market share of cultural products in China, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa in 2021 was 19%, 0.23%, 0.41%, 0.24%, and 0.08%, respectively. The international market share of cultural services was 6.26%, 0.32%, 5.91%, 0.63%, and 0.09%, respectively. Vertically, the overall level is slightly higher than that of 2020. Horizontally speaking, in terms of cultural products, China has the highest international market share for cultural products, followed by India, while Brazil, Russia, and South Africa have lower international market share; In terms of cultural services, China's international market share surpassed India for the first time in 2021, followed by Russia, Brazil, and South Africa in descending order of international market share.

The Display Comparative Advantage Index is the ratio of the share of a country's exports of a certain product or service to its total exports to the share of exports of that product or service in the world's total exports. According to the standards of the Japan External Trade Organization, RCA represents different competitive advantages in different scopes. RCA＞2.5， Representing products or services with strong competitive advantages; 1.25 ＜ RCA ≤ 2.5 indicates that the product or service has a strong competitive advantage; 0.8 ＜ RCA ≤ 1.25 indicates that the product or service has a relatively average competitive advantage within the industry; If 0

The Trade Competitiveness Index represents the ratio of the difference between the import and export of a certain product or service in a country to the total import and export volume of that product or service. When there are only exports and no imports, TC=1， And when TC is positive, the larger it is, the stronger the competitiveness; When there are only imports and no exports, TC=-1， And when TC is negative, the smaller it is, the weaker the competitiveness. According to the import and export data of cultural products and cultural services provided by the United Nations Commodity Trade Database and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Database, the trade competitiveness index of cultural product trade in China, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa in 2021 was calculated to be 0.6811, -0.4481, -0.7287, -0.3876, and -0.3587, respectively. The cultural service trade competitiveness index was 0.0030, -0.4394, 0.5193, -0.2382, and -0.5682, respectively. Vertically speaking, except for the indicator of Chinese cultural services, which has changed from negative to positive, indicating enhanced competitiveness, other values are basically the same as in 2020. Horizontally speaking, China's competitiveness in cultural product trade is stronger than other BRICS countries, while India's competitiveness in cultural service trade is stronger than other BRICS countries.

Opportunities for the development of cultural trade among the BRICS countries

The BRICS countries need to strategically promote their own economic and social development, increase their voice internationally, and expand their respective interests. The BRICS countries are gradually becoming active participants and creators in the global governance system, providing new ideas, methods, and practices for countries to cooperate and participate in global governance, thus bringing new vitality to global governance. With the increasing economic strength of the BRICS countries, the establishment and improvement of their cooperation system will also become an important component of global governance, and new historical opportunities should be seized.

（1） The cultural and trade policies of BRICS countries provide support for trade development

The high-quality development of cultural trade is inseparable from the improvement of the quality of cultural products and services, as well as the growth of the cultural industry. Cultural trade policies involve the content of the cultural industry in the field of foreign trade, which is also the key to the development of cultural trade. There are mainly two types of cultural trade policies in China: one is the policy led by the state, and the other is the market access policy implemented in the field of cultural trade through multilateral and bilateral agreements with members of the World Trade Organization. With the issuance of the "Opinions on Further Strengthening and Improving the Export of Cultural Products and Services" in 2005 as a symbol, Chinese cultural products and services have begun to go abroad, based on the goal of becoming a "cultural power" and aiming to build a "cultural power" by 2035 as proposed by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China; From the perspective of China's openness to foreign cultural products and services since its accession to the WTO, the "Measures for Strengthening the Administration of Cultural Product Import" issued in 2005 also reflects the trend of adhering to franchising and strict import approval. The "Catalogue for Guiding Foreign Investment Industries" released in 2017 shows China's attitude towards "openness". The Sponsorship Law and Audiovisual Law formulated by the Brazilian government since the 1980s have continued to provide funding for cultural projects, while local government laws such as the Mendoza Law and the Promotion of Culture Law have also brought prosperity to the local cultural industry. Since the reign of Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian government has paid great attention to the information industry, especially the software industry, and provided strong support in taxation, investment, and talent, giving it an absolute advantage in exports. After experiencing three periods of control, ambiguity, and reshaping, Russia's cultural policy has generally shown a relatively stable trend. At present, the Russian government's investment in culture has been increasing year by year, gradually forming a new cultural concept and viewing cultural development as an important national strategy, which is also the core concept of Russia's cultural development. The "Muzan West Golden Economy" project in South Africa has funded various cultural activities and focused on high-quality cultural products and services, achieving good economic and social benefits. In addition, the South African government has provided policy and financial support for South African handicraft companies to go global through national handicraft development projects, handicraft company support funds, etc., to assist South African handicraft companies in going global and enhancing their competitiveness in the international arena.

（2） The cultural resources and heritage of BRICS countries each have their own characteristics

The BRICS countries, as representatives of emerging economies, have developed rapidly under the framework of global economic governance rules during the same period. This is partly due to their own resource advantages, and partly due to the fact that they have found a path suitable for their own economic development. The BRICS countries' ability to come together is not a coincidence, as they are all major powers in a certain sense, influencing the development of regions, industries, and even some global industries to varying degrees. The BRICS countries have complementary resources and trade, and are at similar stages of development with common development demands. Therefore, the five countries have a foundation for deepening cooperation, and cooperation in the cultural field has enormous development space and broad prospects. The BRICS countries are all cultural resource rich countries, but each has its own emphasis on resource endowment, thus forming complementarity. Chinese cultural regions have rich characteristics, and each province has formed its own characteristic cultural industry based on its own cultural resources; Brazilian films are renowned worldwide and are second to none in Latin America. Not only are there a considerable number of them, but many of them have received international acclaim; India has a civilization development history of thousands of years. Based on inheriting and developing its own culture, it has integrated local civilization with foreign civilization, promoting the development of Indian culture; In the more than 1000 year history of Russia, music creation, painting techniques, fine wire craftsmanship, enamel craftsmanship, literature, film art, etc. have all become unique cultural features of Russia; South Africa is one of the countries with the richest natural resources in the world and also one of the most attractive places for tourists.

（3） Economic globalization continues to promote close cooperation among BRICS countries

In the 21st century, the interdependence of the global economy is increasingly deepening, and cross-border production and consumption have gradually become a routine international activity. Since the mid-20th century, economic globalization has centralized the economic development of all countries in the world into a common domain, and with the increasingly close economic ties between all countries in the world, globalization has become an irreversible trend. During this process, economic exchanges between countries have been increasing, with numerous economic management institutions and entities emerging. The economies of various regions have also shown a good development trend, promoting cross-border exchanges, collisions, and integration of spiritual forces such as culture, lifestyle, and ideological concepts. At the end of the 20th century, economic globalization has truly developed, and the free flow of production factors across borders has become increasingly common. The rapid development of high-tech, with information technology at its core, has made spatial distance smaller and the world more and more like a closely interconnected whole. In the continuous development of economic globalization and BRICS cooperation, the economic development of BRICS countries has achieved tremendous success.

（4） The development environment of BRICS countries is increasingly optimized

At present, although many emerging economies have significant differences in history, culture, systems, and economic development levels, they all have some commonalities, mainly including the following aspects. One is that they have similar historical experiences, that is, after a long period of difficult struggle and national independence, they were oppressed by the unequal political and economic order in the international community. Due to various domestic and international reasons, most developing countries and regions are unable to achieve rapid and sustainable development. According to data from the International Monetary Fund, since the global financial crisis in 2008, the contribution rate of BRICS countries to world economic growth has remained above 50%, especially among the 11 emerging economies including BRICS. They not only quickly eliminated the negative impact of the crisis, but also achieved an economic rise against the trend, with a strong tendency to surpass developed countries. Although there is a huge gap in overall strength between developing and developed countries, the competitiveness of developing countries in the international arena has significantly improved, and they have transformed from dependent countries to independent and autonomous nations. More importantly, through joint efforts internationally, they speak with one voice at a higher level, which will help them work together to enhance the international status of developing countries and gain a voice.

（5） The "BRICS+" model has been formed to strengthen regional cooperation

Currently, "BRICS+" is a new form of cooperation adopted jointly by the BRICS countries and has been widely applied globally. The BRICS countries have cooperated with various countries and institutions in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe and other regions, further enhancing their influence in the region. Cooperation with African countries refers to establishing a dialogue mechanism with leaders of African countries and regional organizations. In terms of cooperation with South American countries, the dialogue between BRICS and the "South American Five" held in Brasilia discussed how to strengthen cooperation among emerging economies. The cooperation with Asian and European countries mainly includes dialogues between the BRICS countries and the Eurasian Economic Union, member states, observer states, and invited countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as leaders of the Bay of Bengal Economic Cooperation Organization member states on promoting cultural exchanges and other issues. When China hosted the BRICS Summit in 2017, non BRICS countries such as Egypt, Guinea, Mexico, Tajikistan, Thailand, etc. were selected as dialogue partners under the identities of "emerging economies" and "developing countries". China proposed to expand its membership at the BRICS Summit in 2022 and extended invitations for the first time to Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand. China's inheritance and innovation in the concept of "BRICS+" demonstrate that cooperation among BRICS countries has transcended geographical boundaries and is moving towards building an international cooperation platform for emerging economies and developing countries.

Challenges to the Development of Cultural Trade in Three Golden Brick Countries

Opportunities and challenges are two coexisting yet opposing aspects, and opportunities will inevitably bring challenges. The development of cultural trade among BRICS countries is a trend in their economic and trade development, and the challenges they face are not only related to culture itself, but also to macroeconomics. The development of cultural trade among BRICS countries is bound to face challenges brought by risks in these two areas. Only by fully embracing these challenges can we seize opportunities.

（1） The overall economic growth rate has declined

Overall, there are still some unreasonable factors in the economic structure of the BRICS countries: excessive dependence on exports, but the driving effect on domestic demand is not obvious; more emphasis is placed on investing in production factors, while the competitiveness and innovation capabilities of various enterprises still have a significant gap compared to those of developed countries; Excessive state intervention in economic activities is not conducive to independent innovation of enterprises. At the same time, the BRICS countries are also facing problems such as significant wealth inequality, uneven regional development, and imperfect social security systems. The economic growth of the BRICS countries largely relies on factor inputs rather than technological progress. In the context of changes in international production factor prices, the original price advantage of BRICS countries will be further compressed, thus posing a huge challenge to the sustainability of their economic growth. In addition, BRICS countries are also facing problems such as slowing economic growth and lack of development momentum. Therefore, the BRICS countries urgently need to achieve economic transformation. During the transition process, the investment of resources, society, finance, and other aspects by each country will become the key to the success or failure of the transition.

（2） The geographical limitations on cultural cooperation among BRICS countries have not been broken

The BRICS countries include China and India in Asia, Brazil in South America, Russia across the Eurasian continent, and South Africa in Africa, which limits the mobility of people among the BRICS countries. Taking tourism exchange as an example, the "BRICS Joint Statistical Manual 2021" shows that currently, tourists from BRICS countries are still mainly from their respective regions, and there has not yet been a large-scale intercontinental tourist flow across regions. The number of Asian tourists from China and India accounts for 63.73% and 44.56% respectively. Among the tourists from Brazil, 72.36% come from the Americas, while tourists from South Africa are mainly from Africa, accounting for 76.28%; 64.15% of Russian tourists come from Europe. However, compared to the degree of association with other countries, the tourism industry within the BRICS countries has a lower degree of association. In China, Russia ranks 5th in terms of tourist numbers, India ranks 10th, while Brazil or South Africa did not make it into the top 15. Among the 15 countries with the highest number of foreign tourists in Brazil and South Africa, none of them are the other BRICS countries. The number of Chinese tourists ranked first among the tourists received by Russia in 2019 and fourth in 2020, while India, Brazil, and South Africa ranked 16th, 17th, and 18th respectively in 2020. Among the 15 countries with the highest number of Indian tourists, Russia and China rank 5th and 14th respectively. The above data indicates that geopolitical factors have to some extent constrained the cultural exchanges between BRICS countries. In order to deepen cultural cooperation, it is necessary to break through the limitations of geopolitical factors.

（3） The construction of digital infrastructure to promote the development of cultural trade needs to be improved

The BRICS countries have an increasing demand for the construction of networks and other digital infrastructure to ensure smooth and effective cultural exchanges. However, there are significant gaps in the development of digital economy among countries, among which China, Brazil, Russia and other countries have the best construction in digital economy. China's Internet penetration rate, mobile broadband penetration rate and fixed broadband penetration rate all take the lead in the world. Brazil has the largest number of Internet users in the world, and has proposed a development direction focusing on the digital economy. As early as 2018, Russia had clearly stated its intention to vigorously develop the digital economy and emphasized the need to combine digital technology with industry. In 2015, India launched the "Digital India" program, which promoted the rapid development of India's digital economy. However, the penetration rates of internet, mobile broadband, and fixed broadband in India are still very low. All of this is a major obstacle for India to participate in cultural exchanges among BRICS countries in the digital age. In the past, the South African government has been committed to promoting technological progress in the digital economy. However, due to the poor network infrastructure in South Africa, the Internet penetration rate is very low. Today's cultural exchange needs to be based on the construction of digital infrastructure represented by the internet, and different levels of digital infrastructure construction will have different impacts on the cultural environment in which they are located.

（4） The internal cohesion of BRICS countries needs to be further strengthened

From the perspective of the internal mechanism construction of BRICS countries, although a comprehensive and multi-level framework for pragmatic cooperation has been established in dozens of fields such as economy and trade, finance, science and technology, industry, agriculture, culture, education, health, think tanks, and sister cities, led by the leaders' meeting and supported by the foreign ministers' meeting, the relevant mechanisms in these frameworks still have problems of loose structure and need to be further strengthened in cohesion. Although the leaders of BRICS countries meet once a year and the relevant meetings and dialogue mechanisms operate around the meeting schedule, the effectiveness of the mechanisms becomes insufficient after the heat of the meetings subsides. In particular, since 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 has greatly impacted the flow of people, personnel exchanges, educational cooperation, and think tank exchanges in the BRICS countries, and to a certain extent, affected the BRICS countries' attempts to find and build "commonalities" among many "differences" in values, social culture, and so on.

（5） Insufficient innovation in cultural products and services

The cultural "going global" of BRICS countries is not only a gradual process, but also a work of catching up. The rapid pursuit and development can easily lead to the neglect of cultural quality and innovation, making it difficult for cultural products and services to fundamentally reflect the values and spiritual connotations of BRICS culture. In today's rapidly developing world of science and technology, various artificial intelligence technologies are advancing at an astonishing pace. However, many companies still have insufficient understanding of brand culture, lack independently developed core technologies, only blindly imitate without creative thinking, and also lack corresponding marketing methods. Influenced by traditional beliefs, products from BRICS countries are low-priced but lack cultural connotations, which results in companies being unable to achieve rapid and efficient development. Spiritual pursuit refers to the pursuit of higher-level spiritual satisfaction by individuals based on a certain material foundation. In recent years, with the continuous development of China's economy and the improvement of people's living standards, people have begun to attach importance to the enjoyment of spiritual entertainment. In the current cultural market, there are already many entertainment programs, but there is a phenomenon of using Chinese content to fill foreign program templates, lacking originality. With the changing times, people's acceptance and preferences for culture have been overlooked, which has become a huge obstacle to promoting innovative development in the new era.

Suggestions for the Development of Cultural Trade among the Four BRICS Countries

（1） The government encourages the cultivation of professional talents in the cultural industry

The international competition in cultural trade between BRICS countries and trading nations will be reflected in the competition for the scale and ability of specialized talents in the cultural field, so the importance of professional talent cultivation is self-evident. Firstly, innovate the concept of employment. Currently, for most industries, education and qualifications are important factors for career development, while for the cultural industry, new talents should be fully explored and given opportunities to showcase their abilities. At the same time, outstanding personnel in the cultural industry can also be selected from the grassroots level and receive professional training to enrich the management team of the cultural industry. Secondly, improve the education system. On the one hand, the government will increase funding investment in cultural education, support the establishment and innovation of interdisciplinary disciplines, cultivate interdisciplinary talents proficient in language and literature, cultural management, and trade economy, promote the refinement of research fields, expand research scope, and cultivate students' innovative consciousness in the process of talent education. On the other hand, the government should pay full attention to the supply and demand of cultural talents according to the development of the market. Based on the needs of the cultural market, it advocates adopting the method of cultivating cultural talents through school enterprise cooperation, and cultivating more specialized and applied talents.

（2） Extend the industrial value chain and strengthen BRICS cooperation

The BRICS countries can expand their trade scale with each other by reducing trade costs, but the potential for expanding trade scale by reducing trade costs is not significant. Therefore, the BRICS countries need to strengthen the development and cooperation of technology trade. The cultural industry is thriving, and as can be seen from the analysis in the previous sections, competition in the cultural industry will only become increasingly fierce. This kind of competition exists between enterprises as well as between countries. Different enterprises and countries have their own comparative advantages. In order to improve the production efficiency of cultural products and services, comparative advantages can be utilized to form value chains between different enterprises or countries. For different countries, a global value chain is formed. Countries are located at different positions in the global value chain, jointly promoting the entry of cultural products and services into thousands of households, while also promoting the development of cultural industries in various countries. The importance of internal cooperation among BRICS countries as a whole in the value chain of various industries within the cultural sector is self-evident. In the future, BRICS countries will become one of the leading forces in world economic development, and they should strengthen cooperation with each other to cope with global uncertainties. The overall quality of cultural trade among BRICS countries is not high. In terms of cultural product trade, only China has maintained a surplus all year round, and both in terms of international market share, displayed comparative advantage index, and trade competitiveness index, the international competitiveness of Chinese cultural products is superior to the other four countries. It is obvious that the cultural product trade of the other four countries relies on imports to drive. In terms of cultural service trade, India's cultural service competitiveness has obvious advantages compared to other four countries, as well as developed countries such as the UK and the US. China's cultural service competitiveness follows closely behind, while Brazil, Russia, and South Africa do not have a competitive advantage in cultural services. This result shows that the development of both cultural products and cultural services within the BRICS countries is unbalanced, with each country leading the way. Therefore, it is not practical to rely solely on external forces to solve the many problems in the development of cultural trade among the BRICS countries. The best way is to prioritize seeking internal cooperation in cultural trade among the BRICS countries, enhance overall cultural trade competitiveness, and drive individual development as a whole.

（3） Create a cultural business card with "BRICS characteristics"

The growth of cultural trade volume between BRICS countries and trading countries is certainly important, but a country's rich cultural resources and cultural heritage are the foundation for its development of cultural trade. We cannot blindly pursue the growth of trade volume, but also consider reflecting the "BRICS characteristics" in cultural products and services, and creating our own cultural business card. As can be seen from the previous text, the BRICS countries are emerging countries with large populations and strong cultural resource foundations. Policies are gradually tilting towards the cultural industry, which is very beneficial for cultural characteristics to be reflected in products and services, making BRICS culture a bright business card in the international community. To create a cultural business card with "BRICS characteristics", it is more important to explore the cultural characteristics of the five countries and create a rich and colorful BRICS organizational cultural brand. Although there may be significant differences in cultural backgrounds among different countries in trade, there are similarities within differences. This allows companies to explore the cultural similarities between their own country and other countries. Cultural products that integrate the cultures of their own country and other countries can not only reflect the essence of their own culture, but also avoid foreign audiences' resistance to cultural products and services due to differences in cultural backgrounds and cultural understanding, resulting in discounts on the export of cultural products and services. Therefore, we should not blindly cater to the preferences of trading countries, but also adhere to local characteristics. This requires cultural enterprises to adopt research, production, and dissemination of cultural products and services that can embody their own characteristics and are highly respected by the public.

（4） Strengthen the coordinated development of industries related to the cultural industry

At present, the integration and development of cultural industry and high-tech industry, Internet information industry and education industry is a global development trend. At the same time, this is also an important way to achieve innovation in cultural products and services, as well as industrial restructuring. Tourism can become an important means of cultural dissemination, and many countries are vigorously developing cultural and tourism industries because both industries belong to green and environmentally friendly industries with development prospects, and they can both influence people's concepts or behaviors from a spiritual perspective. The combination of cultural industry and tourism industry can achieve a win-win development effect. However, in the process of integrating and developing the two together, it is necessary to pay attention to the balanced development of both. We cannot focus solely on embedding cultural information into the tourism industry to make it work, nor can we only focus on promoting the cultural industry through the tourism industry. When developing these two industries, it is necessary to uphold the concept of cooperation and creating win-win situations. Only in this way can the two industries be integrated and separated, and become independent entities. Only then can the practitioners of the two industries promote friendly cooperation between the two industries with a more positive attitude. There are many factors involved in promoting the coordinated development of cultural and tourism industries, especially when promoting the integration of cultural and tourism industries. This requires the integration of more innovative ideas, the improvement of previous management methods, and the promotion of harmonious development between the two industries. To this end, BRICS countries should closely link cultural industries and related industries, increase the added value of cultural products, enhance the economic benefits of cultural products, and enable products shaped by excellent culture to have advantages in both quantity and quality.

（5） Enhancing the international competitiveness of cultural enterprises

The development of cultural enterprises in BRICS countries should learn advanced management experience from excellent foreign enterprises and establish good cooperative relationships with them. Good cooperation can not only share resources and make up for their own development shortcomings, but also share profits. Cooperation with foreign enterprises is beneficial for the export of cultural products and services from BRICS countries, and also helps to introduce excellent cultural products and services from abroad. The development of every innovative product requires a significant investment of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. If a company invests too much on its own, there will inevitably be great risks. However, if it can find cooperative companies and share resources with other companies, it can greatly reduce investment risks. On the one hand, establishing strategic alliances between small and medium-sized enterprises. The specific situation of the current development of cultural trade in BRICS countries is that the scale of cultural industry enterprises is small, and the funds required for industrial development are scarce, and the professional talent strength is insufficient. The development achievements of these small and medium-sized enterprises often differ from the development plans they have formulated. They cannot achieve their strategic goals by relying on their own resources. Therefore, it is necessary for small and medium-sized enterprises to cooperate in development, share innovative knowledge and excellent resources, and enhance the overall strength of the alliance. On the other hand, enterprises above designated size are accelerating mergers and acquisitions between regions and both domestically and internationally. Since the 1990s, many cultural enterprises have implemented development strategies of mergers and acquisitions, resulting in the emergence of many large-scale cultural enterprises. The most representative ones are Warner Media and Disney Group in the United States. These large group companies after mergers and acquisitions have concentrated key elements required for the development of cultural trade, including advanced production technology, high-tech talents, abundant development funds, advanced management experience, etc. There is still a gap in the development level of cultural trade among BRICS countries compared to developed countries such as the UK and the US. Therefore, the existing leading cultural companies in the country need to seize the opportunity, not only to implement strategic cooperation with excellent domestic enterprises, but also to cooperate with multinational cultural service enterprises abroad, combining development factors such as technology, capital, and talent between enterprises, expanding the scale of enterprise development, in order to enhance the international competitiveness of their own cultural trade, and thus improve the overall international competitiveness of BRICS cultural trade.