Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit New Delhi on 12–13 September to attend the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Meeting.
The year 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the BRICS cooperation mechanism. Since its launch in 2006, the grouping has gradually expanded, with the number of partner countries also increasing.
Today, the expanded BRICS, comprising 11 member states and 10 partner countries, is regarded as one of the important mechanisms for cooperation among countries of the Global South, contributing to the development of a multipolar world, stronger international cooperation and efforts to reform global governance.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Building Resilience, Fostering Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainable Development.” The meeting comes as the BRICS mechanism enters a new stage of transformation, drawing renewed international attention to its future development.
China’s contribution to BRICS development
Over the past two decades, BRICS cooperation has gone through several important stages, with China playing an active role.
From the idea of building a BRICS spirit based on openness, inclusiveness, cooperation and mutual benefit, put forward at the grouping’s leaders’ meeting in Fortaleza in 2014, to the BRICS+ initiative proposed at the Xiamen Summit in 2017, China has consistently advocated expanding cooperation and strengthening the multilateral nature of the mechanism.
The expansion of BRICS, as well as the concept of high-quality development of the expanded BRICS put forward in 2024 and the idea of developing cooperation across five key areas, have been of particular importance.
“China has always played a leading role in BRICS cooperation,” said Wang Lei, Director of the BRICS Cooperation Research Centre at Beijing Normal University.
According to him, at the current stage, China is expected to contribute further to the development of the mechanism through new concepts, practical initiatives and improvements to cooperation mechanisms, giving additional momentum to the high-quality development of the expanded BRICS.
China will assume the BRICS chairmanship next year.
Xu Feibiao, Director of the Centre for BRICS and G20 Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China supports India’s efforts to successfully host the current summit.
He said one of the important objectives of Xi Jinping’s visit would be to maintain contacts with representatives of all sides, strengthen consensus and jointly plan preparations for next year’s BRICS summit in China.
Economic potential and new opportunities
BRICS now brings together countries accounting for nearly half of the world’s population, around 30% of the global economy and roughly one-fifth of global trade. The expansion of the grouping has been accompanied by growing economic potential and a stronger role in international relations.
Experts say the resilience of the BRICS mechanism is largely supported by cooperation across several areas, including political and security cooperation, trade, economic and financial ties, as well as humanitarian exchanges.
The “three engines” of cooperation are gradually strengthening, contributing to expanded practical interaction among member countries, Wang Lei said.
At the same time, trade between China and other BRICS countries continues to grow. According to the data cited, China’s trade index with BRICS countries has increased for 10 consecutive years.
Xu Feibiao noted that 2026 marks the beginning of the implementation period of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. In this context, one important issue at the upcoming summit could be how China can share new development opportunities with its partners and how BRICS member and partner countries can use them to achieve mutual benefit.
BRICS’ role in global governance
The expansion of BRICS is taking place amid major changes in the global political and economic system.
Geopolitical tensions are intensifying, international conflicts persist, while unilateral actions and pressure policies are creating additional challenges for multilateral cooperation.
Against this backdrop, BRICS countries, as one of the leading forces of the Global South, are becoming increasingly important in discussions about the future of the global economy, international security and global governance.
Lan Qingxin, Director of the BRICS Research Centre at the University of International Business and Economics, believes the expanded BRICS needs to transform the growing economic strength and representativeness of the Global South into a more influential international voice.
In his view, the grouping can make a greater contribution to creating a fairer and more rational system of global governance.
The upcoming summit in New Delhi is therefore seen as another important stage in the development of BRICS.
The international community expects participants to reach new agreements on economic and financial cooperation, sustainable development, innovation and strengthening multilateral cooperation.
For the expanded BRICS, the current meeting is not only a platform for discussing the current international agenda, but also an opportunity to determine the grouping’s future development priorities against the backdrop of a changing global system.
China News Service
