China seeks deeper BRICS industrial ties

China is willing to strengthen cooperation with BRICS member states in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, while prioritizing partnerships in areas such as electric vehicles and solar and hydrogen power, the country's top industry regulator said on Tuesday.

Li Lecheng, China's minister of industry and information technology, said BRICS countries and other developing nations should fully leverage their unique advantages in markets, resources and industrial capacity, given the intensifying global competition in the field of technology and profound shifts in the industrial landscape.

"BRICS now accounts for nearly half of the world's population and approximately 40 percent of global GDP. The grouping plays a big role as a major factory, vast market and large-scale cooperative platform driving inclusive economic globalization," Li said.

The senior official made the remarks at the BRICS Forum on Partnership on New Industrial Revolution 2025, which kicked off in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Tuesday.

President Xi Jinping had proposed the building of a BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution innovation center in Xiamen during the 12th BRICS Summit in November 2020.

Concrete progress has been made over the past five years. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the innovation center has advanced cooperation on policy coordination, personnel training and project development. It has helped enterprises from other BRICS countries to enter the Chinese market and vice versa, securing 107 industrial projects with a total investment of 50.6 billion yuan ($7.1 billion).

Last year, China also established a center for promoting AI development and cooperation within BRICS. The next step will involve building an innovation platform to share mature large language models and high-quality datasets, thereby reducing technological barriers, Li said.

"We must keep pace with technological trends, build governance consensus, strengthen policy and regulatory coordination, and promote the interoperability of digital infrastructure," the minister added.

According to Li, China will also encourage companies involved in new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, wind power and hydrogen energy to strengthen international cooperation. The goal is to jointly develop "accessible, affordable and effective "technologies and products to help BRICS nations build renewable energy systems.

Speaking at the forum, Alekxey Vladimirovich Gruzdev, Russia's deputy minister of industry and trade, said: "Today, the forum is much more than just an industrial dialogue mechanism among the BRICS countries. Instead, it is a community of leading global experts and professionals, which contributes to technological leadership of the BRICS countries and shapes global industrial development."

Gruzdev said the BRICS countries now account for almost 48 percent of Russia's foreign trade.

"We share and support the fundamental principles of the BRICS partnership on new industrial revolution in achieving sustainable and inclusive industrialization," he said, highlighting biotechnology as an area with huge potential for cooperation among BRICS countries.

Faisol Riza, Indonesia's vice-minister of industry, said manufacturing accounts for more than 16.9 percent of Indonesia's GDP. However, there are challenges such as disruptions in global supply chains and geopolitical uncertainties. Indonesia joined BRICS as a full member earlier this year.

Therefore, accelerating the green and digital transformation has become essential, which is why the forum in Xiamen is important, Riza added.

Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, said there are tremendous opportunities for shared digital transformation among BRICS countries. According to Yang, China Mobile has partnered with industrial enterprises in Indonesia and other BRICS nations to establish joint AI laboratories. These facilities are designed to address local market needs through the development of AI algorithms, industry-specific models and tailored solutions. In countries such as Brazil and Egypt, the company is also supporting the construction of multiple smart factories.

"We will deepen cooperation with BRICS counterparts in promoting international alignment of AI and 6G standards, and building interconnected infrastructure to strengthen the digital backbone of BRICS countries," Yang added.