From Bishkek to New Delhi, Xi advocates Global South cooperation - IOL

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a group photo session ahead of the 'Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus' meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Sept. 1 2026.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to New Delhi for this year's BRICS gathering just over a week after he took part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. The two back-to-back multilateral engagements converge on a single, defining theme: galvanizing solidarity and cooperation across the Global South.

The SCO "takes root in the Global South, its heartbeats with the Global South, and it is an important pillar of South-South cooperation," Xi said at the Bishkek summit concluded last Tuesday, calling on the SCO to ''promote the development and rise of the Global South through the SCO Wisdom.''

Photo taken on Aug. 24, 2017, shows a flowerbed at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province.

''The Chinese leader is expected to put forward further proposals on Global South cooperation at the upcoming BRICS summit, as he has noted that the BRICS is"standing at the forefront of the Global South.''

This year marks the 25th founding anniversary of the SCO and the 20th anniversary of the BRICS cooperation mechanism, both milestone occasions. Riding the wave of the collective rise of the Global South, BRICS and the SCO have over the years expanded their membership and broadened their networks of developing partners.

Chinese expert Li Guiqiang (L) gives instructions on vegetable cultivation at the China-Ethiopia Addis Ababa Agricultural Technology Demonstration and Training Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Aug. 20, 2025.

Their members jointly account for more than half of the world's population and about 30 percent of the global economy. This illustrates the fact that the two groupings have evolved into major platforms for Global South cooperation.

Xi has not only joined other leaders of member countries in pushing for their respective expansions but also put forward new ideas and initiatives like the ''BRICS Plus'' cooperation approach and the building of an SCO community with a shared future, opening up new vistas for win-win cooperation among Global South countries.

''China has consistently provided a clear vision and momentum for BRICS and the SCO, both conceptually and practically,'' said Humprey Arnaldo Russel, head of the ASEAN-China Research Center at the University of Indonesia. 'It transformed BRICS from a relatively exclusive grouping into a broader platform for cooperation among developing countries and the wider Global South,' he added.

At the SCO summit last week, Xi called on countries to ''stay committed to putting development first and to open up the prospects for shared prosperity.''

Amid a turbulent and rapidly changing international landscape, development still faces severe challenges, and the path to prosperity for the Global South will not be easy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs the 'Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus' a meeting in Tianjin, north China, Sept. 1, 2025.

''The Global South emerges for development and prospers through it. We should make ourselves the main driving force for common development,'' Xi said during the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

For Xi, development has always been a priority. He sees it as ''the master key to solving all problems'' and has consistently called on countries worldwide to jointly pursue development and prosperity. Xi has stressed repeatedly that no one should be left behind in the fight against poverty in China and has led a formidable campaign that ended extreme poverty nationwide, which was hailed as ''the greatest anti-poverty achievement in history.''

His ''leaving-no-one-behind" conviction also extends to his efforts to support poverty reduction and spur development across the Global South. ''On the path to modernization, no one, and no country, should be left behind,'' Xi said.

Last week in Bishkek, Xi called for consolidating cooperation in both traditional and emerging fields, from trade, investment, connectivity and energy to artificial intelligence (AI), the digital economy and green industries.

Responding to the Global South's aspirations for common development and modernization, Xi has proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), which marks its fifth anniversary this year.

In the last five years, the GDI has mobilized more than 23 billion U.S. dollars, provided support for over 1,800 ''small and beautiful'' livelihood projects, and sponsored training programmes for more than 200,000 people in different professions.

Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of the Delovoy Kazakhstan newspaper, said, ''Under Xi's leadership, the concept of development has acquired a new international dimension and become part of a broader vision for humanity's shared future.''

As the Global South rises, it deserves a bigger say in global affairs. Last year's SCO Tianjin summit witnessed Xi's proposal of the Global Governance Initiative, a major proposition from China to advance a more just and equitable global governance system. At the heart of this vision is the conviction that every country has a place and an equal role to play in global governance. Xi has long argued that international affairs should not be dictated by those with more muscles.'

An aerial photo taken on Oct. 22, 2025, shows wind turbines of De Aar Wind Power. Project in De Aar, Northern Cape, South Africa.

''World affairs should be discussed by all, and international norms should be set by all,'' he said in Bishkek last week. ''The domination of international affairs by a few is an injustice left over from history, and global governance dictated by one, a few or a bloc of countries is not true multilateralism.''

''As an important part of a multipolar world and a key driving force behind it, the Global South countries sought to have greater representation and voice in international affairs," Xi said.

Over the years, the SCO and BRICS have grown into vital venues for Global South countries to articulate their interests, coordinate their positions and strengthen their collective influence. Their growing role is evident in political coordination.

The two groupings have issued statements on international and regional hotspot issues. In March this year, for example, SCO member states issued a statement expressing grave concern over developments in the Middle East and the strikes against Iran. Xi has also pushed for improving global economic and financial governance.

In 2014, Xi and other BRICS leaders formally signed an agreement establishing the New Development Bank, creating a new channel for financing infrastructure and sustainable development in emerging markets and developing countries.

At the SCO Bishkek summit, the members reaffirmed the importance of establishing the SCO Development Bank. Now the push for a greater say is extending into emerging areas that will shape the future. In July this year, Xi announced the creation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and called for joint efforts to build a just and equitable system of global AI governance''

''We must carry out extensive international cooperation and help Global South countries with capacity building to bridge the AI and digital divides, promote sustainable development, and prevent creating new historical injustice in AI,'' Xi said.

Beyond the SCO and BRICS, China has also promoted cooperation and greater representation for the Global South through frameworks such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-ASEAN summit. Xi has said on many occasions that China has always been a member of the Global South and will always belong to the developing world.

''No matter how the international landscape evolves, we in China will always keep the Global South in ourheart, and maintain our roots in the Global South,'' he once said.

Beyond the SCO and BRICS, China has also promoted cooperation and greater representation for the Global South through frameworks such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-ASEAN summit. Xi has said on many occasions that China has always been a member of the Global South and will always belong to the developing world.

''No matter how the international landscape evolves, we in China will always keep the Global South in ourheart, and maintain our roots in the Global South,'' he once said.

Robotic arms work in an energy storage production workshop at the Sigenergy Nantong Smart Energy Center in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, July 24, 2026.