Innovation center drives synergy

China is anchoring a vital cooperation network for the Global South through the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center (BPIC), driving technological and economic synergy while embodying the BRICS core spirit of open and inclusive growth.

The center, announced by President Xi Jinping at the 12th BRICS Summit in 2020 and based in Xiamen, Fujian province, is expanding its global footprint in policy coordination, personnel training, and project development in a bid to inject new momentum into emerging economies.

The center's role in running talent programs and key industrial forums received high praise in both the 2024 Kazan Declaration and the 2025 Rio de Janeiro Declaration, signaling its growing recognition within the BRICS leadership mechanism.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with China Daily ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, Jiang Qingsheng, the center's executive deputy director-general, noted that "BPIC has evolved into a vital strategic platform for China to lead cooperation among BRICS nations in the era of the new industrial revolution".

Since 2020, the center has hosted more than 60 high-level international exchange activities. It also recorded the signing of 138 partnership projects, with a total investment exceeding 62 billion yuan ($9.2 billion).

With the BRICS bloc expanded to more countries, Jiang noted that the partnership was experiencing key trend changes, with its scope broadening to the Global South, models shifting from single projects to ecosystem co-construction, participants expanding beyond governments, and cooperation extending to local levels.

Jiang further highlighted a strong complementarity, noting that China's smart manufacturing sector — capable of delivering complete solutions from industrial robots and automated lines to 5G and the Industrial Internet — perfectly matched BRICS industrial scenarios to unlock vast space for deeper cooperation.

"BPIC serves as a 'super connector' to link Chinese technologies with BRICS markets and government resources with market strength," he said.

Hub for collaboration

A one-stop support center for mutual investment, the BRICS Industrial Cooperation and Go Global Comprehensive Service Hub, began trial operations in May. A collaborative effort with 44 professional institutions and overseas industrial parks, the facility hosts official investment promotion agencies from BRICS nations.

To pave outbound paths, the hub rolled out two sessions for Nigeria and Malaysia in July and August — attracting more than 400 domestic firms eager to invest abroad. By the end of August, it welcomed nearly 300 delegations with 3,000-plus visitors, including more than 200 foreign guests from 29 nations.

To bridge trade ties, BPIC has organized matching events across Xiamen, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Cairo, and Addis Ababa, facilitating major deals including Xiamen C&D Inc's $500-million iron ore agreement with Brazil.

Xiamen expanded cross-border channels with BRICS countries by launching Smart and Secure Trade Lanes to Durban and Cape Town in South Africa that bolstered customs efficiency by 60 percent, alongside a Sao Paulo air route with over 700 flights and 47 million parcels delivered, and also optimized China-Europe freight trains.

"A growing number of Chinese enterprises are entering BRICS markets and deeply taking root there, while anchoring the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation through tangible practices," Jiang said.

In April 2025, Xiamen brand Golden Dragon delivered 100 electric buses to Addis Ababa, marking East Africa's first bulk deployment of Chinese new energy vehicles. The buses were assembled locally via knock-down, or KD, kits with CATL batteries and Chinese-standard charging facilities.

Jiang recalled how at the handover ceremony, Adanech Abebe, the city's mayor, hailed the electric buses as a concrete action toward green development while easing public commuting pressure, and added that a prior batch of 150 Golden Dragon electric minivans had already slashed carbon emissions by 12,000 metric tons.

The project is an expansion of East Africa's pioneering new energy KD plant launched in 2024, which has generated over 200 jobs, a joint vocational school, and the region's premier charging hub. "This exemplifies a unique path — one that not only exports products but nurtures talent, and not just opens markets but takes deep root locally," Jiang said.

"The boundaries of BRICS cooperation are continuously expanding, from traditional manufacturing to new digital sectors," he added.

In August, Unisound, a Xiamen-based artificial intelligence enterprise, completed its first outbound deployment to Ethiopia. More than 8,000 kilometers away, a local e-commerce livestreaming firm utilized the Xiamen-deployed large language model to access AI services like text generation, voice cloning, and multilingual dubbing.

Additionally, the Xiamen AI Magic Token Go-Global Ecosystem Hub outbound base is scheduled to commence operations in September, creating a comprehensive AI-generated content export platform that is tailored for BRICS countries.

Nurturing talent

To address the critical shortage of specialized skills in the Global South, BPIC has developed 720 training courses and completed over 90 capacity-building projects, empowering 2,600 professionals from 140 nations in fields ranging from smart manufacturing to the digital economy.

The flagship initiative, the BRICS New Industry "Golden Egret" Excellence Scholarship, has already drawn high-level talent from 28 countries during its first two terms in 2025 and 2026, including government officials, scholars, and corporate executives from the industrial, telecommunications and diplomatic sectors.

The initiative combines academic deep dives into China's industrial strategy with firsthand site visits to technology powerhouses like Alibaba, Huawei, Unitree Robotics, and Golden Dragon.

Jiang shared the story of alumnus Ilnur Hazipov, who serves as a project manager at the Center for Urban Transformation of the Executive Committee of Kazan, Russia. After touring the intelligent ecosystem at Xiamen's container terminal during the program, he returned home to apply the experience to Kazan's smart city program planning.

"Many participants have emerged as bridges between China and their home nations," said Jiang, adding that the program's global influence has been surging, as its third cohort this October drew more than 600 applications for only 25 available seats.

"The core attraction of the BRICS innovation center for Global South nations stems from its pragmatic cooperative outcomes that are tangible, participatory, and beneficial," Jiang said.

Since its inception, BPIC has gained strong support from council members including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. In April, the Fujian provincial government issued a guideline, pledging to build a cooperation network tailored for the Global South by 2030, with the center serving as its prime window to cultivate greater international influence.

Jiang said as the 2030 blueprint unfolds, BPIC is set to unlock broader market spaces for Chinese enterprises, moving exports from traditional light industrial goods toward high-value-added sectors like new energy buses, high-end equipment, and technical standards.

It also offers a new path for the industrialization of the Global South, accelerating technology diffusion and knowledge sharing in smart manufacturing and green energy, he said.

With 2026 marking the 20th anniversary of BRICS cooperation, Jiang said, "We expect greater BRICS cooperation to secure a firmer foundation, unleash stronger momentum, and wield greater influence, as we join hands to build a community with a shared future for humanity."

Contact the writers at zhangyi1@chinadaily.com.cn