Xi Attends 18th BRICS Summit as China Sets 2027 Bid

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 18th BRICS Leaders Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, where the bloc marked its 20th anniversary, adopted the 45-page New Delhi Declaration, and confirmed that China will assume the chairmanship in 2027. The summit, hosted and chaired by India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, brought together 11 member nations and 10 partner countries.

According to Xinhua News, Xi delivered speeches at both the Phase One meeting on September 12 and the Phase Two meeting on September 13, accompanied by Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

A Summit Marking Two Decades

The 2026 gathering was held under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” and coincided with the 20th anniversary of BRICS cooperation, which began with a foreign ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in 2006. The grouping has since expanded from four economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China - to 11 members following its historic 2024 enlargement, adding Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Indonesia, among others.

In his Phase One address, titled “Shouldering the Responsibility of Our Times, Bravely Serving as Pioneers,” Xi described the past two decades as “20 years of self-reliance and self-strengthening… 20 years of weathering storms together… 20 years of fruitful results,” according to the full text published by Xinhua. He outlined “four pioneers” for the bloc: innovation and development, safeguarding peace and stability, promoting inter-civilization exchanges, and reforming global governance.

New Delhi Declaration Adopted Unanimously

The summit culminated in the unanimous adoption of the New Delhi Declaration on the first day, a 45-page document comprising 140 numbered paragraphs - the longest BRICS leaders’ declaration in recent years. The declaration text reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to reforming global governance, supporting a comprehensive overhaul of the UN Security Council, and increasing the representation of emerging markets and developing countries in international financial institutions.

On trade, the declaration voiced “serious concern” over rising unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures that it said distort trade and violate WTO rules - language widely read as an indirect reference to US tariffs imposed on several BRICS members, though it named no country. It also condemned unilateral coercive measures, including economic sanctions and secondary sanctions, citing their impact on the rights of ordinary people.

China’s Five Initiatives

In his Phase Two speech on September 13, titled “Solidifying the Foundation of BRICS Cooperation, Strengthening the Power of the Global South,” Xi proposed five cooperation initiatives: an AI open-source and inclusive initiative, a trade and investment facilitation initiative, a digital industry cooperation initiative, a smart manufacturing cooperation initiative, and a sci-tech talent cultivation initiative, per the full text.

“A world without rules is like an intersection without traffic lights; chaos and disorder are inevitable,” Xi said, arguing that “international rules should be written by all countries together.” He also announced that China will take over the BRICS chairmanship next year and host the 19th summit - China’s fourth time chairing the grouping. The declaration confirmed the bloc’s full support for China’s 2027 chairmanship.

The Xi-Modi Meeting

One of the most closely watched moments was Xi’s bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi - their third consecutive annual meeting, and Xi’s first visit to India in seven years, following the 2020 Galwan Valley border clash. The two leaders agreed that their countries should be partners rather than rivals.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, briefing reporters in Beijing after the trip, said the visit achieved three strategic goals: enhancing BRICS cooperation, empowering the Global South, and charting the course of China-India relations. He noted that in less than 24 hours in New Delhi, Xi attended nearly 10 activities, and that the leaders’ back-to-back bilateral meetings for three consecutive years were “of great significance for stabilizing the region and radiating to the whole situation,” according to the briefing summary published by Xinhua. The official report from the Chinese government confirmed that China will host the 19th summit.

Broader Significance

The summit took place against a turbulent global backdrop: the ongoing war in West Asia involving BRICS members Iran and the UAE, the grinding Russia-Ukraine conflict, and a US-led trade war of tariffs. Russian President Vladimir Putin told the summit that any means were being used to contain rising competitors, including “tariff wars, illegitimate sanctions, attempts at economic dictatorship, blackmail, interference in internal affairs, and simply brute force.”

Modi struck a more conciliatory tone, saying “BRICS is not against anyone” and proposing to transform a “pyramid of privilege into a platform of partnership.” As ET Now reported, former Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao called the declaration “a significant diplomatic success” while noting its limitation: consensus was preserved “but only through carefully generalised language.”

What’s Next

With China set to chair in 2027 and host the 19th summit, Beijing will have a platform to advance its vision of “Greater BRICS Cooperation” and Global South solidarity. The key questions ahead are whether the bloc can convert its broad declarations into concrete collective action, and whether the China-India thaw - carefully managed across three consecutive summits - can hold amid persistent border sensitivities and strategic competition. For now, the New Delhi Declaration’s unanimous adoption suggests that BRICS, twenty years on, remains a forum where members who disagree on much still find reasons to keep talking.