NEW DELHI, September 13 — Chinese President Xi Jinping called on BRICS countries to strengthen unity among the Global South and to play what he described as an active, stabilizing and positive role in global affairs, speaking on the second day of the BRICS summit in New Delhi. The story begins with a pitch for cohesion. With, in his words, changes unseen in a century accelerating across the world, Xi told the gathering that the Global South’s collective rise has become a key driver of world multipolarity.
He cautioned that the international landscape remains volatile and fraught with risks and challenges, and argued that BRICS countries must seize the historical initiative, rally the Global South and advance the well-being of all humanity.
What Xi asked of the Global South
Much of the address was a list of demands aimed at the international system. Xi urged Global South countries to jointly defend the rule of law in international affairs and to safeguard basic norms of international relations — sovereign equality, noninterference in internal affairs and the peaceful settlement of disputes among them. International law and international rules, he said, should be applied to all and remain free from double standards.
He also called on those countries to hold high the banner of multilateralism and to uphold the authority and role of the United Nations, backing multilateral institutions as they pursue reform and greater efficiency. On development, Xi said Global South countries should stay committed to a people-centered development philosophy and strive to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
He urged them to jointly advance security governance, tackle both traditional and nontraditional security threats, and improve global climate governance — and to move faster toward a consensus-based global AI governance framework so that new technologies can, in his phrasing, light the way toward shared prosperity.
Five initiatives, and a bet on open-source AI
At its heart, the speech was a set of proposals rather than a statement of principle. Xi put forward five initiatives on greater BRICS cooperation, covering artificial intelligence, trade and investment facilitation, digital industry, intelligent manufacturing, and science and technology talent development.
He said the foundation of greater BRICS cooperation must be cemented, calling for BRICS to leverage its close ties with fellow emerging markets and Global South countries, to uphold open cooperation for mutual benefit, to safeguard stable and smooth industrial and supply chains, and to foster a large integrated market. BRICS, he added, should build incubators for innovation, upgrade traditional industries, develop emerging industries and deploy future industries.
On the open source and inclusive AI initiative, Xi said China will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS AI open source community and will support cooperation in developing and applying large language models.
Two voices from outside the room
Charles Onunaiju, director of the Center for China Studies in Nigeria, framed the cooperation as a form of solidarity that unlocks partnerships and what he called the democratization of the international system — an open and inclusive international system. Rakhim Oshakbayev, director of the TALAP Center for Applied Research in Kazakhstan and a former Kazakh vice minister for investment and development, said BRICS cooperation should bring together developing countries’ shared aspirations and promote coordination and cooperation.
He said BRICS countries should continue seeking common interests, and noted that the grouping’s expansion had placed greater demands on internal coordination. That expansion is the backdrop to the New Delhi sessions.
BRICS originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has in recent years added further emerging-market members — a development Oshakbayev pointed to as the source of the added strain on coordination. What to watch next is whether the five initiatives move from proposals into programs, and whether a bloc that is still absorbing new members can hold the internal consensus Xi’s agenda assumes.
