Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
On the first day of 2025, nine countries officially became BRICS partners: Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cuba, Uganda, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan. This marks another milestone in the development of BRICS, following the historic expansion of the BRICS group.
With the growth of larger BRICS, the group not only strengthens its presence in the economic field, but also plays an increasingly important role in building a multipolar world.
Wang Youming, director of the Developing Countries Research Institute at the China Institute of International Affairs in Beijing, told the Global Times that the inclusion of these nine countries as BRICS partners represents a global movement to reshape an unjust and unfair international order. He said that this highlights the growing momentum of the industry. Especially in the wake of the collective rise of the Global South.
In response to the expansion of the BRICS family, some Western media have become increasingly anxious, especially after the BRICS summit in Kazan. For example, the Voice of America claimed that “the BRICS meeting highlights geopolitical ambitions and competition with the West.” For some time, some Western media and politicians have assumed that the BRICS mechanism is aimed at confronting the West. Actually not.
BRICS is a non-Western organization, but it is not an anti-Western organization. Since its establishment, BRICS has clearly stated its role and mission. Don’t start anew, don’t get involved in faction conflicts, and don’t seek someone’s place. Its model of multilateral cooperation avoids zero-sum games between great powers and provides a more comprehensive paradigm for international relations. This inclusivity is why many countries in the Global South are rushing to apply to join the BRICS family.
The driving force behind the development of BRICS is the growing demand from developing countries for a fairer and more just international order. In recent decades, the world has increasingly come under the weight of the hegemonic actions of the Western powers. In contrast, the BRICS countries have not only made remarkable progress in their own development but also prospered through cooperation while driving the transition to a multipolar world system.
Now, as geopolitical risks continue to rise, BRICS partners are offering countries in the Global South a more comprehensive, flexible and resilient alternative. BRICS not only provides opportunities for economic cooperation, but also creates a platform for developing countries to have a voice and work on global governance reforms. Through the BRICS platform, the Global South can be freed from traditional geopolitical pressures to “take sides” and pursue greater autonomy in a multipolar world.
Some Western media outlets have accused the expansion of BRICS of posing a risk of global division, suggesting that countries will have to choose between joining BRICS and cooperating with Western countries. They are trying to stigmatize BRICIS as an anti-Western weapon. However, a growing number of countries are realizing that the BRICS mechanism is not what the Western media portrays it to be.
BRICS has not followed the Western path of forming an exclusive bloc. Instead, it forged a new path of dialogue rather than confrontation. Partnership, not collaboration.
Amid the current challenges within the international system, the BRICS mechanism provides a promising platform for cooperation. BRICS countries and their partners have made significant contributions to creating a more just international order by promoting inclusive development, advocating multilateralism, and reforming the global governance system. Although this process faces many complex constraints, its prospects undoubtedly offer hope for the creation of a multipolar world.
