South African Expert: China's BRICS Presidency Will Further Deepen Cooperation
Cape Town (ANTARA) - China’s BRICS presidency in 2027 will open new opportunities to further deepen practical cooperation among member states and advance collaboration in innovation, green development, and other sectors, according to a South African expert.
“BRICS has evolved from a high-level dialogue forum into a platform for practical cooperation,” said Farhana Paruk, a Cape Town-based China-Africa relations expert, to Xinhua in a recent interview.
Paruk noted that this mechanism has developed several platforms and practical cooperation programmes, including the New Development Bank (NDB), the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, as well as initiatives in trade, finance, food and energy security, digital public infrastructure, and people-to-people exchanges.
“However, there remains significant room to deepen cooperation, particularly in settling transactions using local currencies and cross-border payment interoperability, supply chain resilience, increasing NDB project financing, as well as structured cooperation regarding artificial intelligence (AI) governance, standards, and skills development,” she said.
“Under China’s presidency in 2027, there are opportunities to deepen traditional cooperation through joint agricultural technology platforms, affordable irrigation and food storage systems, as well as leveraging shared expertise in solar energy, batteries, power grids, and green hydrogen,” she added.
Paruk hopes that China can further advance cooperation in AI, the digital economy, and green development through closer collaboration in governance, standards, finance, and technology.
This can be achieved by accelerating BRICS’ efforts in innovation through enhanced AI governance dialogue, joint testing facilities, funding for startups, and digital economy standards, as well as realising a green BRICS through initiatives in biodiversity, climate, green finance, and environmental technology and research, she stated.
Paruk also hopes that China’s presidency can strengthen people-to-people exchanges among BRICS nations, particularly through increased interaction between younger generations, academics, cultural institutions, and media organisations, thereby helping BRICS to become more widely known and felt by the public.
Regarding global governance, Paruk said that China is expected to work with other BRICS nations to push for reforms that will provide a greater voice to developing countries in several international institutions and promote more inclusive development.
“In parallel, China is expected to work with other BRICS members to promote a more just and equitable global governance system by pushing for multilateral reforms, greater representation for the Global South in various financial and political institutions, and rules that support development finance, climate action, and digital inclusion,” she said.