China on Tuesday threw its weight behind plans to expand the loosely-defined BRICS club of large emerging economies, which are seeking to assert their political and economic clout on the global stage. Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, representing a quarter of the global economy, are meeting for three days, and interest in joining the group has surged.
The expansion push is primarily driven by China, which sees the bloc as limiting Western influence in international institutions and promoting its development vision. It also reflects China’s desire to bolster its economic standing amid slowing growth at home and as it battles a trade war with the United States.
Unlike many developing countries, China sees itself as the leader of the Global South and is determined to promote its interests through regional organizations such as the BRICS, which is also expanding to include African nations. The bloc’s members have pushed for reforms in international bodies that they believe don’t adequately reflect their growing clout, particularly the United Nations and the World Bank.
This year, BRICS leaders are expected to discuss the possibility of boosting the use of local currencies in trade and financial transactions, further de-dollarizing the bloc’s economy, and lessening its dependence on the United States. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over his invasion of Ukraine, will not attend in person because he wants to avoid having Pretoria execute the warrant. Instead, he will participate via video conference.
The BRICS members are also looking to set up their development bank, a counterweight to the IMF and the World Bank, to boost development financing outside the mainstream Western approach. They already have the New Development Bank and China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, both backed by Beijing and designed to give the group more leeway in selecting projects.
But the looming expansion talks could expose differences over strategy, especially in how fast-growing, populous member states like Saudi Arabia and Iran would fit into the club. The current five BRICS members will likely insist on vetting any potential newcomers before admitting them. They will want to ensure the new members don’t end up diluting control of the group to their advantage, says South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor.
It’s unclear how far the discussion will progress this week. On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with summit hosts Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Narendra Modi of India. Xi said the countries are at a “critical juncture,” he welcomed the prospect of an expanded bloc to help shape a more inclusive global order. That’s unlikely to please the United States, which has a long history of urging BRICS members to rein in authoritarian governments and avoid confrontation with the United States.
