BRICS. Xi gives support to accelerate technological and industrial development

Xi made the proposal during his intervention at the second and final session of this weekend's BRICS summit of leaders in New Delhi, where the Chinese agent presented five cooperation initiatives that boost the growth of the so-called Global South in the fields of AI, trade and investment, digital industry, intelligent manufacturing and talent development, according to official agency Xinhua.

Among the offerings of the ruler of the second largest economy in the world stand out to help the bloc countries implement open language models that allow establishing an open and inclusive AI zone for BRICS, building intelligent factories, enabling a cloud platform for the block members’ digital industry and training young talent in innovation and advanced technology.

According to Xi, the 15th Five Year Plan approved this year is not only China’s development roadmap, but also “a list of opportunities for cooperation for the world” with which the Asian giant will continue to promote “high-quality development”, high-level openness, the initiative of the New Silk Roads and “creating prosperity together with other countries of the world.”.

In the same session, India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had warned that the use of technology and critical minerals as geopolitical weapons can fracture the block's cohesion, in the midst of world technological development.

On the other hand, as he has already done in his speech on the first day of the summit, the Chinese leader again asked the bloc and the Global South to join forces around multilateralism, the authority and role of the United Nations and the reform of multilateral institutions to make them more efficient, including that of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) “in the right direction”.

It also maintained that BRICS, and above all the largest economies of the group, must maintain stable and unhindered supply chains and promote market integration.

“ A world without rules is like a traffic lightless intersection where chaos and disorder would be inevitable,” Xi said, who argued that global rules should be established with common consensus and applied with equality and no double standard.

After India this year, China will assume in 2027 the presidency of the BRICS, a bloc that integrates Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

This was Xi's first trip to India in seven years, a visit that included a meeting with Modi and represents a new step in normalizing bilateral relations started in 2024.