All states nowadays are in search of new political and economic models, which are able to generate sustained growth. Developmentalism, which is interpreted as rapid economic development of a sovereign state, is one of the most insightful economic ideas of the previous century. The screaming success of a “developing state” came about in the period after the Second World War, especially in the 1960s. In that period projects dealing with accelerated development were actively promoted almost in all regions of the world, including in the format of interstate integration associations. Economic liberalism made a remarkable contribution to the debates on development. It insisted that there was just a single way to achieve sustainable economic growth – via the formation of markets, which should be free of state intervention. That was followed by a rather long period of domination by neoclassical economic theory and neoliberalism policy (1980-2000s). State developmentalism during these decades almost totally disappeared from public debates and survived only in a few regions of the world, including East Asia and Latin America. Nowadays developmentalism is once again on the rise. China and Russia play a remarkable role in elaborating and implementing measures designed to speed up economic growth, improve the quality of social policy and consolidate state sovereignty. The BRICS, as a forum for the leading developing economies, plays a prominent role in these processes. China as the largest economy among the five BRICS states, and Russia as the originator of the forum, are its informal leaders and their cooperation is a crucial prerequisite for the success of the initiative.