Xi Jinping’s tech diplomacy meets harsh realities of BRICS

(Edited and refined by Grace Chong, with the assistance of AI translation.)

At the BRICS summit in New Delhi, the 11 member countries struck a cautious note on the Middle East, issuing a rare joint statement on 12 September calling on all sides to exercise maximum restraint. The focus then broadened to the bloc’s economic ambitions, with leaders including those from China, Russia and India turning to the challenge of inclusive global growth. Chinese President Xi Jinping called on “greater BRICS” to lay a solid foundation for practical cooperation, keep industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded, and foster more integrated markets.

Experts interviewed said cohesion among BRICS countries has strengthened, but significant differences remain, with strategic competition between major members such as China and India continuing to test the group’s unity. Middle Eastern members, despite facing armed conflict, largely view BRICS as an avenue for economic opportunities and diplomatic engagement rather than an alternative to the Western security system.

BRICS and the Global South

The BRICS leaders held the second session of their meeting on 13 September. In his speech, Xi called on Global South countries to jointly defend the rule of law in international affairs and safeguard the basic norms of international relations, including sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs and the peaceful resolution of disputes. He also called for the banner of multilateralism to be held high, the authority and role of the United Nations to be upheld, and World Trade Organisation reform to stay on the right track, while increasing the representation and voice of developing countries.

Xi also called on Global South countries to jointly advance security governance, tackle both traditional and non-traditional security threats, improve global climate governance, and accelerate the establishment of a consensus-based global artificial intelligence (AI) governance framework.

In his speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the solutions developed by BRICS countries to benefit not only BRICS members, but also to be adaptable and accessible to meet the needs of the Global South.

The Russian president described BRICS as a powerful driving force in shaping a fairer and multipolar world order, and urged member states to explore how they could organically integrate the competitive advantages of their respective economies.

BRICS was initially made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It has since expanded to 11 full members and ten partner countries, forming the “greater BRICS” cooperation mechanism. The Philippines, as the current ASEAN chair, was also invited to attend as an outreach country. 

Modi also noted on 11 September that BRICS accounts for half of the world’s population, 40% of global GDP and more than 25% of global trade.

Professor Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Studies at Nanjing University, observed that compared with the past two years, Xi’s speech this year reflected a clear shift and stronger emphasis on two fronts. “First, there is an emphasis on BRICS as an important voice and force within the Global South. BRICS should adopt a multi-perspective, comprehensive approach to cooperation and communication among its members across areas including security, technology, markets, the economy, business, people-to-people exchanges, and the stability of international institutions and the international order, thereby demonstrating BRICS’ sense of responsibility,” he said.

Zhu told Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB), “Second, there is an emphasis on further expanding cooperation among BRICS countries in technology, artificial intelligence and the economy, deepening cooperation in commercial markets and technology, and, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, stepping up discussions and the formulation of effective rules in relevant areas.”

BRICS finds common ground

The summit took place as fighting once again erupted in the Gulf. The US and Iran exchanged attacks, while the Iran-backed Houthi movement further widened the conflict by launching attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The summit nevertheless achieved a significant diplomatic outcome on 12 September. Despite differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the US-Iran war, BRICS succeeded in issuing a joint statement backed by both Middle Eastern members.

Peng Nian, director of the Hong Kong Research Center for Asian Studies (RCAS), said in an interview that the joint statement demonstrated stronger cohesion within the organisation and suggested that it could adopt a more proactive stance on major regional issues in the future. This is a relatively significant change and could lead to bloc confrontation with the West. “The West may well step up its criticism of BRICS in the period ahead,” he said.

Peng believes the joint statement on the Middle East, together with China taking over the rotating BRICS chairmanship next year, could make the grouping highly attractive to small and medium-sized countries. “In particular, Middle Eastern countries or smaller states will certainly hope to leverage BRICS to provide an additional layer of protection.”

Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University’s Public Policy and Global Affairs programme, believes that Gulf states have differing interests and therefore attach varying levels of importance to BRICS. “Generally speaking, I think a lot of them do not see BRICS as a security arrangement or an alternative to Western security arrangements. They see BRICS more from an economic and diplomatic angle,” he assessed.

BRICS still faces internal divisions

Zhu likewise believes the BRICS mechanism “cannot create an entirely separate system of its own” and cannot become a bloc like the Group of Seven (G7), which is based on shared ideology and commercial interests and has a high degree of cohesion.

He pointed out that although Trump has abandoned the traditional US foreign policy approach of liberal internationalism, there has been no substantive change to the US-led unipolar system. With the US retreating, China now hopes to work with other countries to uphold the existing mechanisms of global governance and promote the continued stable development of the international order.

Zhu said the BRICS mechanism still has shortcomings, including the fact that India’s dissatisfaction with China has not fundamentally changed. “Geostrategic competition among the major members is also very evident,” he said. “Overall cohesion remains characterised by diversity, and even fragmentation. There should be no excessive expectations of the BRICS mechanism.”

China turns to AI to expand its BRICS network

Meanwhile, Xi announced at the BRICS summit that China would take the lead in establishing a BRICS AI open-source community. 

Experts interviewed said China’s latest push to project its technological appeal through BRICS aims to expand its network of AI partners, encourage more countries to adopt Chinese standards, and gain an early advantage in its AI competition with the US.

The China-US AI competition has intensified since last year. Chinese companies currently offer some of the world’s leading open-source AI models, allowing users to modify the underlying code, while US developers tend to favour closed-source models.

Xi also put forward five initiatives in his speech on 13 September, the first of which was the open-source and inclusive AI initiative. He said, “China will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS AI open-source community, support cooperation in developing and applying large language models, hold specialised AI seminars and training courses, and build an open ecosystem for AI.”

A day earlier, during the first session of the meeting, Xi said China welcomed BRICS countries to participate in the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), whose establishment China promoted in July this year. He also called on BRICS countries to strengthen cooperation in AI and encourage open source, openness, collaboration and sharing.

WAICO’s participants currently consist mainly of countries from the Global South. The US, meanwhile, proposed the Pax Silica initiative in December last year to safeguard the security of AI and semiconductor supply chains. Signatories include Australia, Japan, India and the UK.

Xi is expected to visit the US later this month for his second meeting this year with US President Donald Trump. AI governance is likely to be among the issues discussed by the two leaders.

China and US compete for AI partners

Peng of the RCAS told LHZB that China and the US are both seeking to build networks of partners in AI and gain the upper hand in a new round of competition among nations. “The more partners a country attracts and the wider the acceptance of the standards it sets, the stronger its position will be. China is clearly pursuing this, and is naturally using the BRICS summit to advance the effort further,” he said.

Peng pointed out that China has both substantial financial resources and a willingness to provide public goods, which will “make it even more attractive to small and medium-sized countries”. Bringing more countries into the AI industrial chain would also help Beijing take a leading role in the technology globally in the future — “a necessary step for China”.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “金砖国家凝聚力增加 学者：凝聚力加强但内部仍显著缺失” and “习近平宣布建金砖人工智能开源专区”.

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