Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on September 12, 2026 (local time) at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to attend the 18th BRICS Summit of Leaders held in the Indian capital from September 12 to 13. The summit was one of Xi's major multilateral engagements this year and marked another visit to South Asia. It took place at the Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition-Convention Centre in New Delhi, one of the highest-profile and largest multilateral diplomatic events hosted by India since it assumed the BRICS chairmanship this year. Over the two-day visit, Xi attended the summit's plenary session and second-stage session, and held a series of bilateral and smaller-format meetings with other leaders on a tightly packed schedule.

The BRICS mechanism traces its origins to the early 2000s, when international investment analysts first grouped Brazil, Russia, India and China together as major emerging economies; the four countries' leaders held their first formal summit in 2009, and South Africa's accession in 2010 completed the original "BRICS five." Over more than two decades, the grouping has evolved from an economic dialogue into a comprehensive cooperation platform spanning political and security affairs, trade and finance, and people-to-people exchanges, with practical mechanisms such as the New Development Bank established along the way, making BRICS an important banner for solidarity among emerging markets and developing countries. In recent years, BRICS has undergone its largest-ever round of expansion, admitting a number of new emerging economies from the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, further strengthening the grouping's representativeness and global influence and making it a symbol of Global South solidarity. India took over the rotating BRICS chairmanship this year, and the summit venue, Bharat Mandapam, previously hosted the 2023 G20 Leaders' Summit, once again serving as a stage for major-power multilateral diplomacy.

During his visit, Xi held bilateral talks with Modi in New Delhi on the sidelines of the summit — another face-to-face exchange between the two leaders this year and one of the most closely watched diplomatic engagements of the gathering. China-India relations have gradually warmed in recent years after a period of strain, with the two countries' leaders repeatedly using multilateral occasions to meet and exchange views on bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern. As the two most populous and largest developing economies in Asia, and pivotal members of BRICS, the stability of China-India relations carries significance not only for the two countries themselves but also for regional peace and stability and the evolving global landscape, with the international community closely watching whether the meeting would inject fresh momentum into improving ties.

At the summit's second-stage session on September 13, Xi delivered a major address laying out China's proposals for deepening practical BRICS cooperation. He said that a "big BRICS" must produce a big impact and achieve big development, which requires all parties to jointly build a solid foundation of practical cooperation — turning BRICS into an "innovation incubator," accelerating the upgrading of traditional industries, actively growing emerging industries, and looking ahead to lay out future industries, so that BRICS countries can seize the initiative in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. Toward this end, Xi systematically put forward five cooperation initiatives covering artificial intelligence, trade and investment facilitation, the digital industry, smart manufacturing and talent training, charting a concrete path for practical BRICS cooperation.

First, the AI Open-Source Inclusive Initiative. Xi said China will take the lead in building a BRICS artificial intelligence open-source zone, supporting cooperation among members on the development and application of large language models, holding AI training programs, and jointly building an open and inclusive AI ecosystem. Artificial intelligence has become a core driver of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, yet AI development levels vary widely around the world, with some developing countries facing bottlenecks in technology, talent and computing power. Analysts say the initiative is aimed at narrowing the AI technology gap among BRICS countries, lowering technical barriers through open-source sharing, and ensuring more developing nations can share in the benefits of AI development rather than being left behind in the new technological revolution.

Second, the Trade and Investment Facilitation Initiative. Xi proposed building a BRICS Special Economic Zones partnership, setting up a smart portal, and aligning policies among members to jointly create new highlands of open development, providing a more convenient institutional environment for BRICS businesses' cross-border investment and trade. He also announced that China will host the BRICS Trade in Services Forum next year, in 2027, further deepening exchanges and cooperation among BRICS countries in services trade. As global industrial and supply chains undergo accelerated restructuring, trade and investment facilitation has become an important lever for BRICS countries to expand mutual openness and build economic resilience, and the initiative, if implemented, could inject fresh institutional momentum into economic and trade cooperation among BRICS members.

Third, Xi said China will help establish a BRICS digital industry cloud platform to promote resource-sharing and complementary strengths among BRICS countries in the digital economy, helping businesses and institutions in member countries access digital infrastructure and carry out cross-border digital cooperation at lower cost. Fourth, China is willing to help BRICS countries build smart factories, helping them accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing and raise the modernization level of industrial and supply chains. For many BRICS members, upgrading manufacturing is a key part of achieving industrialization and economic diversification, and China's proposed smart-factory cooperation could help these countries leapfrog conventional industrialization pathways.

Fifth, Xi proposed establishing a BRICS Engineer Training Alliance to strengthen exchanges and cooperation among member countries in training professional and technical talent, providing a talent base for BRICS countries' industrial upgrading and innovative development. Talent shortages have long constrained industrial upgrading in developing countries, and a cross-border training alliance could help BRICS members achieve mutual recognition of technical standards and talent-training systems. Separately, Xi also put forward a "BRICS AI-Empowered New Industrialization Initiative," calling on BRICS countries to jointly apply AI technology to advance new industrialization, deeply integrating AI with traditional sectors such as manufacturing, energy and agriculture to drive transformations in quality, efficiency and growth drivers, and move together toward high-quality development.

In his address, Xi called on BRICS countries to stand on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, to play a pioneering and trailblazing role, and to unite and rally more emerging markets and developing countries in jointly upholding multilateralism and opposing unilateralism and protectionism, pushing the global governance system toward a more just and equitable direction. He also said BRICS countries should strengthen strategic communication and policy coordination to send a stronger "BRICS voice" on international and regional affairs, injecting more stability and positive energy into a turbulent and fast-changing world.

On September 13, after successfully concluding his activities at the 18th BRICS Summit, Xi boarded his plane and departed New Delhi, returning to Beijing. During the summit, Xi also announced that China will take over the rotating BRICS chairmanship in 2027 and host the 19th BRICS Summit of Leaders, a development that will be covered in further detail separately. As one of Xi's major overseas trips this year, the New Delhi visit was brief but packed with a dense schedule of diplomatic activities, including his summit address and bilateral talks, underscoring the importance China attaches to the BRICS cooperation mechanism.

Observers said Xi's visit and the series of cooperation initiatives he proposed reflect China's active push to deepen and substantiate BRICS cooperation and to support the shared development of Global South countries. By proactively putting forward practical cooperation proposals in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence and the digital economy, China also signaled its wish to use its own industrial and technological strengths to help BRICS and other developing countries take part in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and narrow the North-South development gap. At the same time, Xi's meeting with Modi during the visit injected fresh momentum into the stable development of China-India relations and deeper mutual trust and cooperation amid a complex and volatile international landscape, drawing wide international attention.