Experts: Xi sets clear direction for greater BRICS cooperation

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Media professionals at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, September 12, 2026. /VCG

At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, from September 12 to 13.

Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of BRICS cooperation and the launch of China's 15th Five-Year Plan this year, experts pointed out that Xi's speeches at the summit delivered important messages about the future development of BRICS.

Looking back at the past 20 years, Xi highlighted that BRICS has grown with strong vigor to become the world's most influential platform for emerging markets and developing countries, adding that BRICS has entered a new stage of high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation.

Su Xiaohui, director of the Department for Developing Countries Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said Xi's attendance at the summit and his speeches have drawn attention to the achievements made by the BRICS cooperation mechanism over the past 20 years, which she said has demonstrated strong internal momentum and promising prospects. 

She noted that China has consistently played an important role in advancing BRICS cooperation, making the ideas put forward by Xi at the summit a key focus of attention.

Amid profound global changes unseen in a century, Xi called on BRICS nations to act as "four pioneers" – spanning innovation-driven development, peace and stability, mutual learning among civilizations and global governance.

Su explained Xi's proposals further elaborate on the four global initiatives he proposed – the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative – providing a clear direction for the development of BRICS countries. 

To ensure that greater BRICS cooperation achieves major progress, Xi also stressed the need to solidify the foundation of practical cooperation. Focusing on the new wave of technological and industrial transformation, Xi put forward five concrete initiatives at the summit: the open source and inclusive AI initiative, the trade and investment facilitation initiative, the digital industry cooperation initiative, the intelligent manufacturing cooperation initiative and the science and technology talent development initiative.

Qian Feng, a senior research fellow at the National Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University, pointed out that these initiatives, spanning AI collaboration, economic resilience and capacity building, represent key milestones in translating the Global Development Initiative into practice. 

Qian noted that through deeper cooperation with China, BRICS countries and the broader "BRICS+" framework will gain expanded developmental choices, demonstrating the strong vitality of the BRICS mechanism while offering new pathways for global progress across political, security and economic fields.