China welcomes six new Brics members who will join on January 1

The Brics Sherpa for the Chinese chapter, Li Kexin, says the decision by the group to add six nations next year is of historical significance and will lead to a more equitable global economic and geopolitical order.

On Thursday morning at the 15th annual Brics summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would be added as full members of the bloc from January 1.

The summit was attended by more than 50 heads of state from scores of African and emerging markets and was the most heads of state that have ever gathered at a Brics summit.

Speaking to journalists, Kexin said the expansion of the group was a major boost to Brics efforts to strengthen ties, trade and co-operation on the world stage.

“This year’s summit is a complete success. The Brics leaders have made an agreement in principle on which countries can join,” Kexin said, adding that as the bloc expands its membership, it comes with high expectations of the New Development Bank in supporting Brics and other emerging economies.

He said the expansion needed to result in increased trade between current and incoming Brics nations. 

“With new friends joining our family, I think there is more urgency to deepen our co-operation. I think it is all the more necessary to strengthen co-operation with our new friends. The 11 countries now have a lot of common interests in a number of areas, including education, trade, health and tourism,” he said.

He added that the idea of adding the six countries to the bloc would deepen co-operation among members and the rest of the developing world as the new countries reflect the aspirations of Brics as a representative of the global south.

“From this day on, Brics will still stick to solidarity and co-operation with developing global south countries, and will still seek beneficial co-operation and mutual support. But we must stress that we are not an anti-west alliance and we are not seeking bloc confrontation,” said Kexin.

Asked about tensions with the US, Kexin maintained that it was a good step for Iran to join Brics, saying that enhanced relationships between developing economies allows for the sharing of their best ideas.

He said a two-level system was emerging in procedures, which allowed countries to either become full members or become “unofficial partners” of the bloc. He said this was due to the many countries that have asked to become members while Brics finalises the membership criteria.

“There is a long queue and they are knocking on the door. For modalities, we have two levels, namely full members and partner categories. We want to put these partner countries in place and have a not-so-formal relationship. But also, in the past few months, these countries have been serious about being fully fledged members,” he said.