Forging anchors of continuity

Targeted pragmatic pilot projects under the BRICS framework can help translate intergovernmental pledges into tangible societal gains

The BRICS, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, can move beyond diplomatic declarations. By building "anchors of continuity" in cross-border payments, agroclimatic data and health infrastructure, BRICS can show how multilateral cooperation delivers tangible, people-centered results.

In 2026, India assumes the group's chairship under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability". The timing matters. The people-centered approach invites BRICS to look beyond diplomatic declarations and ask a practical question: How does international cooperation reach people in their daily lives?

BRICS has already emerged as an important platform for the Global South and a significant force in a more multipolar world order. It must now turn that relevance into tangible outcomes that people can recognize outside political circles. Geopolitical shifts and leadership turnovers may occur, but cooperation can withstand those transitions when it takes root in everyday life. When citizens, businesses and communities rely on common infrastructure, withdrawing from cooperation entails higher political, economic and social costs. That practical value can sustain cooperation beyond electoral cycles. Such initiatives strike roots in economic and social life because they offer useful, frequent benefits that people weave into their routines. Their survival does not rest solely on treaties or on the preferences of a particular government.

Take Brazil for example. The Central Bank of Brazil launched Pix, the instant payment scheme, in late 2020, simplifying transfers and allowing people to make payments within seconds at any hour. India offers a complementary experience. Aadhaar, India's biometric unique identification system, provides digital identification infrastructure, while the Unified Payments Interface connects banks and applications to enable instant payments. Brazil and India demonstrate how digital infrastructure gains legitimacy when people stop seeing it as a distant technology and start using it to solve everyday problems.

China adds another dimension. The Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative have made cooperation visible through infrastructure, connectivity, food security and productive capacity. People can see and use a railway, an energy network or a digital connection. Physical construction alone, however, cannot guarantee continuity. A project also needs sound finances, social legitimacy and alignment with the priorities of the host country. BRICS needs a pragmatic approach that pairs concrete projects with responsible governance and local adaptation.

The expanded group also brings together complementary strengths in energy, fertilizers, agriculture, logistics, mining, health, finance and technology. It would achieve more by selecting a few initiatives with clear goals and visible effects. Payments, agroclimatic security and health emergency preparedness combine direct public impact, capabilities that members already possess and the prospect of measurable results. All three areas fit this year's BRICS chairship theme, but each stands at a different level of maturity and requires its own path to implementation.

An instant payment network offers one of the most mature options. BRICS would not need to create a common currency immediately. A realistic path would begin with bilateral corridors, compatible technical standards and settlement mechanisms in local currencies. Ongoing BRICS discussions on cross-border payments already provide a basis for progress. Faster, more transparent and less expensive family remittances, tourism payments and small-business transactions would give BRICS cooperation a clear group of beneficiaries.

We should not underestimate the technical and regulatory difficulties. Foreign exchange conversion, liquidity, cybersecurity, data protection, anti-money-laundering rules and regulatory differences all demand careful work. BRICS can therefore test a small number of corridors before attempting a large-scale launch. Those pilot projects would expose weaknesses, build trust and guide expansion. The aim should not involve replacing every existing arrangement, but connecting infrastructure that already works.

A shared agroclimatic data platform could offer another point of support. Members could begin relatively simply by linking existing Earth-observation capabilities instead of launching a new and costly satellite constellation. Meteorological agencies, research centers and national agricultural extension services could turn the data into weather alerts and information on water resources, soil conditions and pests, then deliver them to small farmers through accessible channels. The benefits could appear quickly: fewer losses, better decisions and greater climate resilience.

Health emergency preparedness presents a more complex institutional challenge. BRICS countries possess substantial capacity in vaccines, medicines, medical supplies and pharmaceutical production. A permanent network, however, would require transparent access rules, compatible regulatory standards and a clear division of financial responsibilities. But members could start modestly by coordinating purchases of priority supplies, conducting joint exercises and maintaining limited regional reserves. In an emergency, that accumulated capacity would create immediate value.

As a pillar of BRICS financial cooperation, the New Development Bank can help turn some of these ideas into testable projects, provided they fall within its mandate. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, the NDB had approved 140 projects totaling $42.9 billion. It could make its most practical contribution by financing pilot projects in infrastructure, data and productive capacity, while also mobilizing technical expertise. Central banks and financial authorities should continue to lead payment initiatives. National scientific and health institutions can direct work in their respective fields.

BRICS also needs a better way to measure success. Meetings, documents and funding commitments from leaders matter, but they cannot tell us all of the results related to people's daily lives. We would learn more by tracking the cost of a family remittance, the farm losses that early warnings help prevent, or the speed at which regional manufacturers can supply vaccines, medicines and priority inputs. Verifiable targets for the first 12 to 24 months would help distinguish workable initiatives from overly ambitious promises.

Building anchors of continuity means making BRICS cooperation visible in the cash flow of a small business, a farmer's planting decision or the response to a health emergency. Once people see the results, they begin to treat it as a promising social expectation. China's long-term planning with win-win outcomes, the digital innovations of Brazil, China and India, the wider group's capabilities and, where appropriate, support from the NDB can give practical meaning to the people-centered approach for 2026. Lasting multilateralism requires more than closer ties among states; it takes hold when people can see how it improves their lives.

The author is the director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.