BRICS member states, associated members, and multilateral organizations gathered in New Delhi, India, from September 12 to 13 to hold the group's eighteenth Summit. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the BRICS cooperation mechanism, dating back to the emergence of the 'BRIC' concept proposed by Goldman Sachs and the first leaders' summit in 2009.
The expansion of the group raises questions about whether BRICS is a loose geopolitical bloc aimed at countering historical Western global hegemonic influence or if it is an emerging genuine economic bloc focused on deeper intra-group economic interaction. Undoubtedly, geopolitical pressure shapes both contexts of existence—national and multilateral aspirations. The expansion of BRICS reflects its ambitions, reaction to contemporary challenges, and the desire to deepen economic partnership.
Calls for Expanded Economic Cooperation
Speaking at the Summit in New Delhi, President Xi Jinping called for broader economic cooperation within BRICS to transform the bloc into a practical platform for the development of the Global South. He emphasized that the success of the 'Greater BRICS Initiative' depends on creating a solid foundation for pragmatic interaction, strongly urging member countries to improve cooperation, maintain stability in industries and supply chains, and develop an integrated market.
The 'Greater BRICS' concept describes an enlarged group that now includes new participants such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, alongside several partner countries. The goal of this initiative is to stabilize supply chains, promote the creation of integrated markets, and strengthen the voice of developing economies in international governance. The initiative aims to deepen economic, technological, and geopolitical integration within the expanded BRICS bloc and its connections in the Global South.
Five Key Pillars of Cooperation
As stated during the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, five main areas of cooperation for the 'Greater BRICS' include establishing a BRICS Open Source AI Zone for sharing large language models and training, improving trade facilitation, partnership in the BRICS Special Economic Zone, modernizing traditional industries, creating innovation incubators through the development of the digital industry and smart manufacturing, and developing talent based on educational and professional exchange between developing markets.
In May 2026, the BRICS Partnership Forum on New Industrialization, held in Xiamen, China, identified intelligent manufacturing and technological innovation as a key pillar for high-quality 'Greater BRICS Cooperation.' The Eighteenth BRICS Summit highlighted AI and technology as new growth drivers for developing countries. By creating the BRICS Open Source AI Zone to promote cooperation in large language models, AI training, and open AI ecosystems, China will help accelerate the adoption and use of AI in many Global South countries, where most nations have remained marginalized from the benefits of new technologies.
The future of Greater BRICS will be determined by dialogue and respectful cohesion among its members, which will contribute to increased economic cooperation and the pursuit of common interests. During a bilateral meeting with Indian President Narendra Modi, President Xi called for advancing strengthened financial cooperation with India, stating: 'Both sides should... work hand in hand to advance high-quality large-scale financial cooperation, uphold a fair and sustainable world order, and promote open and inclusive economic globalization.'
China and India are two of the largest BRICS countries. Both leaders also expressed readiness for a just, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of border issues. China is India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $151 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Both countries are working to stabilize relations by resuming air travel, visa regimes, and high-level contacts.
President Xi also used the 18th BRICS Summit to call for reform of the international financial architecture to improve and increase the representation and voice of developing countries, emphasizing BRICS' role in ensuring multilateral stability by positively influencing the promotion of human welfare in international affairs. He strongly urged Global South countries to jointly defend the rule of law and adhere to fundamental norms of international relations, including sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and peaceful dispute resolution.
He also called on BRICS to leverage close ties with other developing markets, maintain open, mutual cooperation, ensure the stability and continuity of industries and supply chains, develop a large integrated market, create innovation incubators, modernize traditional industries, develop new sectors, and adopt future industries.
South Africa's Priorities and Financial Mechanisms
South Africa also utilized the Summit to advance its diplomatic and economic priorities, focusing on expanding intra-bloc trade and investment within BRICS, promoting industrialization and value addition, and mobilizing investments in African infrastructure in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called for expanding intra-bloc trade and investment, promoting industrialization and value addition. He also argued for the necessity of attracting investment in African infrastructure consistent with AfCFTA to strengthen intra-continental trade and industrialization.
Ramaphosa also spoke at the BRICS Business Forum, focusing on trade and supply chains, agriculture, women-led development, the digital economy, and innovation. He held bilateral meetings with other heads of state and government to advance national, regional, and continental interests.
BRICS discussed increasing trade in local currencies and developing alternative cross-border payment mechanisms in the form of digital currencies to reduce the costs of cross-border trade. China and Russia currently conduct about 99% of their bilateral trade in local currencies, and their coordination within BRICS is becoming increasingly close. BRICS Pay launched a commercial pilot in June 2025 and is moving towards full-scale deployment this year, integrating systems such as China's CIPS, Russia's SPFS, India's UPI, and Brazil's Pix.
The New Development Bank (NDB) stands out as a significant achievement, having approved $43 billion in loans since 2016 and succeeding in lending in local currencies. The bank is responsible for mobilizing resources for clean energy, transport, water supply, sanitation, and digital infrastructure in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Although BRICS intra-bloc trade accounts for about 5% of world trade and approximately 20% of all South-South trade, members such as Iran, Ethiopia, Russia, and India import more than 40% of their total imports from BRICS countries, indicating growing intra-bloc trade.
BRICS in its current form did not begin as a formal economic or geopolitical coalition, but as an economic acronym coined by Jim O'Neill in a 2001 investment report, uniting Brazil, Russia, India, and China based on their potential for rapid growth. The four founding nations formalized the group during a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2006, after which they held the first official leaders' summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. South Africa was invited to join, officially changing the acronym to BRICS in 2011. Between 2024 and 2025, BRICS expanded to 11 members and 10 partner countries, rich in diverse strategic resources demanded in energy, manufacturing, trade, and technological production—the crucial engines of future economies.
Currently, the group represents approximately 49.5% of the world's population. According to the IMF, BRICS economies now account for over 40% of global GDP by purchasing power parity, surpassing the share of the G7. The projected average GDP growth rate for 2026 is 3.7%, more than three times the average of the G7.
As reflected at the 18th BRICS Summit, intra-bloc coordination on global governance, finance, trade, development, and international security aligns with the emerging Greater BRICS. The expanding agenda, declarations, accumulation of working groups, institutions, and areas of cooperation show that the group is moving towards Greater BRICS and deeper intra-bloc economic cooperation.
