NEW DELHI: Chinese president Xi Jinping on Sunday called on Global South countries to jointly defend the rule of law in international affairs and strengthen cooperation across areas including artificial intelligence, trade, digital industries, manufacturing and science and technology.His remarks came at the second session of the 18th Brics Summit, where he also said China would continue opening its economy and sharing the opportunities of its development with other countries.Addressing the summit, Xi said international rules must be written by all countries and rejected the logic of “might makes right”. He called for the principles of sovereign equality, noninterference in internal affairs and peaceful settlement of disputes to be upheld, with international law and rules applied to all without double standards."Fairness and justice is a universal aspiration, and international rules must be written by all countries. The logic of “might makes right” does not hold, and should have been discarded long ago. Global South countries should jointly defend the rule of law in international affairs, safeguard the basic norms of international relations including sovereign equality, noninterference in internal affairs, and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and ensure that international law and international rules are applied to all, free from double standards," Xi said.

Xi also urged Global South countries to remain committed to a people-centred development philosophy and work towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He said that since China launched the Global Development Initiative five years ago, it had implemented more than 2,000 projects in partnership with other countries and provided training to more than 200,000 professionals, benefiting people in more than 120 countries.He added China had granted zero-tariff treatment to all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations and would continue to broaden independent and unilateral opening up."China is opening its door ever wider to the world. We have granted zero-tariff treatment for all the 53 African countries having diplomatic relations with China. We will continue to broaden independent and unilateral opening up, and share the opportunities of China’s development with other countries," the Chinese president said.

Five initiatives for Brics cooperation

Xi proposed five initiatives to strengthen BRICS cooperation, focusing on artificial intelligence, trade and investment, digital industries, intelligent manufacturing, and science and technology talent development.Under the open source and inclusive AI initiative, China will work to establish a Brics AI open source community, support cooperation in developing and applying large language models, organise specialised AI seminars and training courses, and build an open AI ecosystem.On trade and investment facilitation, Xi proposed a BRICS special economic zone partnership through which countries could establish an intelligent portal, coordinate policies and build a new frontier for open development. He also said China would host the BRICS Forum on Trade in Services next year.The digital industry cooperation initiative envisages a Brics digital ecosystem cloud platform, along with digital skills training, technological exchanges and industrial alignment.Under the intelligent manufacturing initiative, China offered to assist fellow Brics countries in building smart factories and developing standards and norms to promote manufacturing transformation and upgrading.Xi also proposed a Brics engineer cultivation alliance for the joint development of engineers and mutual recognition of competency standards. China will launch a Brics youth exchange programme focused on scientific and technological innovation.

PM Modi-Xi meeting focuses on ties and border peace

On the sidelines of the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi held a 40-minute meeting during which they agreed that India and China should take a strategic and long-term view of their relationship and ensure that differences do not turn into disputes.

Xi said the current momentum in bilateral ties, built on the resumption of institutional exchanges, an expanding cooperation agenda and growing trade, had been hard-won and should be cherished.PM Modi welcomed the “steady progress” in bilateral relations but underlined that peace and tranquillity in the border areas would remain an essential basis for the continued development of ties.The meeting was the leaders’ third bilateral interaction in two years, following their meetings in Kazan in 2024 and Tianjin last year. It was also their first meeting on Indian soil in seven years.