BRICS has strengthened its position as a platform for emerging economies nearly two decades after its formal launch in 2006, expanding its membership and broadening cooperation beyond trade and investment.
The grouping has undergone several rounds of enlargement, while cooperation has expanded into areas including infrastructure, finance, technology, renewable energy and sustainable development.
Ahead of this year’s BRICS summit in New Delhi, member states are seeking to deepen cooperation and strengthen the voice of developing economies amid growing protectionism and fragmentation in the global economy.
BRICS countries now account for about 40 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity and nearly half of the world’s population.
Data from UN Trade and Development shows that intra-BRICS merchandise trade has grown more than 13-fold since 2003, with exports reaching 1.17 trillion US dollars in 2024.
The bloc’s influence also extends to development financing through the New Development Bank (NDB), headquartered in Shanghai.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, the bank had approved 42.9 billion dollars in financing for 140 projects covering infrastructure, clean energy and digital transformation.
These areas are reflected in the theme of the forthcoming BRICS summit: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
Cooperation among BRICS members has also expanded into scientific and technological innovation.
The BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center in Xiamen, established in 2020, provides a platform for collaboration in digitalisation, advanced manufacturing and technology.
China, a founding member of BRICS, has supported efforts to expand practical cooperation and participation within the enlarged grouping.
While some Western analysts view BRICS as a potential rival to existing global institutions, proponents of the bloc describe it as a platform founded on openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit rather than confrontation.
As BRICS enters its third “golden decade”, its members face the challenge of translating the group’s growing economic weight into deeper cooperation and tangible development outcomes across the Global South.
Xinhua
