How BRICS creates new opportunities for Global South development

A solar power plant is bringing cleaner energy to remote communities.

A digital industrial platform is connecting businesses across borders.

A proposed grain exchange aims to bolster global food security.

A unified voice ensures that developing nations have a seat at the table in AI governance.

These are not isolated success stories.

Together, they illustrate how BRICS cooperation is generating tangible opportunities for the Global South, demonstrating how China's four major global initiatives are being translated into action.

As BRICS marks 20 years of cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the theme "Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability," the summit arrives at a critical juncture as Global South nations actively seek more resilient, inclusive and self-reliant paths to development.

As Stefan Ossenkoepper, a researcher at Germany's Schiller Institute, noted, the philosophy underpinning BRICS cooperation aligns seamlessly with Xi's four global initiatives, creating a powerful collective force to forge a new paradigm of win-win development.

Putting development first Development has been the beating heart of BRICS since its inception.

The New Development Bank (NDB), whose establishment Xi personally championed, has approved 139 projects with total financing of about $43 billion by the end of 2025.

From renewable energy and transport infrastructure to affordable housing and clean water access, NDB funding directly improves livelihoods across the developing world.

Meanwhile, the establishment of the BRICS Industrial Capacity China Center has provided a dedicated platform for industrial cooperation, technology transfer and business matchmaking.

Indonesian scholar Siti Mutiah Setiawati observed that over the past five years, the Global Development Initiative and BRICS cooperation have reinforced one another, elevating development on the international agenda and translating shared aspirations into concrete results for emerging markets.