When addressing the Session I of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Xi noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of BRICS cooperation, saying that over the past two decades, the BRICS cooperation mechanism has continued to grow and expand, and has demonstrated remarkable vitality and dynamism.

Xi said it has been 20 years of self-reliance and self-strengthening, adding that BRICS countries have actively explored development paths suited to their own national conditions, setting an example of self-strengthening through unity among emerging markets and developing countries.

This has also been 20 years of standing together through thick and thin, Xi noted.

BRICS countries, Xi said, have worked together to tackle challenges ranging from the global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change.

The group has remained steadfast in safeguarding the common interests of the Global South, while providing the world with stability and positive momentum, he said.

Xi also hailed the past 20 years of BRICS cooperation as fruitful, saying that BRICS countries have undergone a historic expansion, established a comprehensive, multi-tiered framework for cooperation, and ushered in a new stage of high-quality development for greater BRICS cooperation.

Xi stressed that the world is undergoing accelerated transformation unseen in a century, the Global South is rapidly growing in strength, and the trend toward a multipolar world is unstoppable.

Meanwhile, countercurrents of unilateralism and power politics are surging, multilateralism and the international order are coming under strain, and deficits in peace, development, security and governance continue to widen, he added.

He said that BRICS countries should firmly stand on the right side of history, strive to be a pioneer of the times, steer the international order toward greater justice and equity, and work together to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Xi called on BRICS to pioneer in advancing innovation-driven development. BRICS countries, he said, should firmly seize the initiative, strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, encourage open-source development, openness, cooperation and sharing, and push practical cooperation into new areas and to new heights.

BRICS countries are welcome to actively participate in the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, he said.

China proposed an initiative to promote new industrialization through artificial intelligence among BRICS countries, and is willing to work with all parties to deliver more outcomes in research, development and application, and deepen cooperation in industrial and supply chains, he said.

Xi called on BRICS to be a pioneer in upholding peace and stability. BRICS countries should uphold a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, oppose the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, reject violations of other countries’ sovereignty and interference in their internal affairs, and play a constructive role in resolving hotspot issues, making a distinctive BRICS contribution to finding solutions that address both symptoms and root causes, he said.

China will work with fellow BRICS members to play a due role in bringing peace and tranquility to the Middle East and Gulf region, Xi said.

Xi called on BRICS to be a pioneer in facilitating mutual learning between civilizations. The countries, he said, should champion the common values of humanity and advocate exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations as well as harmonious coexistence. They should ensure the success of the BRICS forum on people-to-people and cultural exchanges, share experience in state governance, and build positive momentum for the steady development of relations between countries, Xi added.

Xi advocated efforts to deepen cooperation in culture, tourism and education, strengthen youth exchanges, and promote more frequent interactions and closer bonds among the peoples.

Xi called on BRICS to be a pioneer in reforming and improving global governance.

He urged the group to keep pace with the trend toward greater democracy in international relations, promote a more just and equitable global governance system, and uphold the authority of the United Nations.

Xi said BRICS should support a multilateral trading system centered on the World Trade Organization, and reject all forms of protectionist measures.

The grouping should lead global governance in emerging domains such as cyberspace, outer space and the deep sea, and amplify the voice of Global South countries, he added.

Over an extraordinary two-decade journey, solidarity and cooperation have remained the driving force behind the BRICS cause, Xi stressed.

Xi called on BRICS members to remain sincere and candid with one another, seek common ground while respecting differences, and respect each other’s core concerns.

He also urged the group to deepen mutual understanding through communication and dialogue, properly handle differences, and ensure that BRICS cooperation continues to move forward steadily.

China, Xi said, will take over as the rotating chair of the BRICS and host the 19th summit next year.

The Chinese side stands ready to work with all parties to build consensus, create a better future, and embark on BRICS’ third “golden decade,” jointly opening up a bright future of prosperity and progress, he added. ■

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This evolution has ushered in a new era of greater BRICS cooperation, better reflecting the growing weight and aspirations of the Global South.

When BRICS leaders prepare to gather for this year’s summit in New Delhi, India, the mechanism is playing a greater role in amplifying the collective voice of emerging economies, and expanding practical cooperation amid a changing international landscape beset by raging protectionism and economic fragmentation.

Its growing weight is reflected in its economic and demographic scale. BRICS countries now account for approximately 40 percent of global GDP at purchasing power parity and nearly half of the world’s population. Data released by the UN Trade and Development in March showed that the intra-BRICS merchandise trade has expanded more than 13-fold since 2003, and exports reached 1.17 trillion U.S. dollars in 2024.

BRICS, however, is more than an economic force. Its growing significance lies in how countries with different development paths are pooling their strengths in resources, industry and technology to advance shared development.

A prominent area is financing. For many developing economies, access to affordable, long-term funding remains critical to turning development ambitions into reality. The New Development Bank (NDB), headquartered in Shanghai, has helped provide such an option by mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects. Figures released by the bank showed that by the end of the first quarter of 2026, the NDB had approved 42.9 billion dollars in financing for 140 projects.

Covering such areas as infrastructure, clean energy and digital transformation, these projects address the pressing development needs of Global South countries while echoing the priorities highlighted by the theme of the forthcoming BRICS Summit, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”

The ever-evolving BRICS cooperation is also helping developing countries gain new growth momentum. In recent years, BRICS cooperation has been expanding into areas like renewable energy, digital infrastructure, scientific and technological innovation.

A case in point is the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center in Xiamen, which was established in 2020 to provide a platform for cooperation in digitalization, advanced manufacturing and technological innovation.

These efforts point to the broader value of BRICS: it is not simply giving the Global South a stronger voice, but creating practical opportunities for countries to access financing, technology and cooperation suited to their development needs.

Such collaboration helps explain BRICS’ growing appeal to countries seeking greater opportunities to participate and cooperate. As a founding member, China has contributed not only by building platforms for practical cooperation, but also by supporting greater openness and broader participation to promote high-quality cooperation within an expanded BRICS.

Some in the West portray BRICS as a rival bloc seeking to build a parallel order. Yet this claim bears little resemblance to reality. BRICS stands for openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit, not confrontation or exclusion. That is fundamentally different from the exclusive blocs championed by some Western countries, and a key reason behind the growing vitality of BRICS.

Looking ahead, BRICS is poised to embark on its third “golden decade” after 20 years of growth and transformation. By rising up to the challenges of the times, BRICS countries can help shape a more equal and orderly multipolar world and a more universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and, in doing so, write a new chapter of solidarity and cooperation across the Global South. ■

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JOHANNESBURG, (Xinhua) — The BRICS is playing an increasingly important role in promoting global economic growth, advancing South-South cooperation and strengthening the voice of developing countries amid a world of uncertainty, a South African academic has said.

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By Xinhua News

At the 2026 World Robot Conference, we saw China’s robotic hands in action, from welding cars on factory lines to sorting packages in warehouses, from making coffee to sensing a feather landing on a robotic palm. They’re not perfect yet. The real challenge ahead is making these systems reliable, flexible and useful beyond the lab or the show floor.

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Bathed in stage lights, dancers move gracefully before a cluster of cameras. On the other side of the lens, viewers respond in real time, with comments and emojis streaming up the screen, virtual gifts arriving, and thousands tuning in from homes across the country.

The performers belong to the Guangzhou Song and Dance Theatre in south China’s Guangdong Province. Known for productions inspired by traditions such as the lion dance, the troupe is among a growing number of arts groups turning to livestreaming and social media to connect with audiences beyond the theater.

For He Mu, a dancer with the troupe, the digital stage offers an entirely unexpected element.

After a serious knee injury forced her to bow out from the stage in 2025, He feared that the performing career she had spent more than two decades building might be put on hold. When the theater later launched a livestreaming program, however, she found her way back beneath the lights.

Accustomed to the distant gaze of theater audiences, He stepped into the livestream studio with little experience in front of cameras and almost no instinct for online interaction. She had prepared only a handful of Dunhuang-inspired dances.

The response took her by surprise. “Viewers were incredibly enthusiastic,” she recalled.

Encouraged, she began to improvise. Flower petals floated through the air as the spotlight followed her every gesture. Freed from the tightly choreographed structure of the traditional stage, she discovered a more spontaneous and intimate side of her artistry.

The chemistry that she has found with her new audiences is becoming a trend in this field.

During a livestream of Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting, a dancer slowly turned her face toward the camera. The movement would barely have registered from the back rows of a theater, but on a phone screen, the lingering glance filled the frame. Within minutes, the audience had swelled to tens of thousands.

While some critics and traditionalists worry that the intimacy of the screen may flatten the grandeur of the stage, the dancers see the medium differently. Meng Qingyang, the production’s lead performer, calls livestreaming “a convenient aesthetic experience” that fits naturally into modern life.

“Attending the theater requires calculation — scheduling the time, navigating the commute after work,” she said. “Livestreaming allows people to experience the performance whenever they have a brief moment, lying comfortably at home after a long day.”

Yet convenience tells only part of the story.

What reaches viewers is often more than a dance. The Poetic Dance, a widely acclaimed dance drama, unfolds like the 900-year-old handscroll that inspired it. Mineral blues and greens shimmer against the warm patina of aged silk, while dancers move with the measured grace of ink brushstrokes gliding across a landscape.

Beneath its beauty lies an aesthetic shaped over centuries — one that finds strength in restraint, grandeur in simplicity, and meaning in the empty spaces as much as in the painted ones.

A Beijing resident, unable to secure a ticket for the Poetic Dance, decided to experience the performance on her phone.

“We Chinese people,” she said, “come from landscapes like these.”

The comment points to a broader shift in the way younger Chinese are engaging with tradition, said Li Mingchong, a research fellow at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.

Raised during a period of growing prosperity and global influence, many of them are comfortable looking outward, while also returning to cultural forms that have shaped the country’s collective memory, he said.

According to the China Association of Performing Arts, livestreams featuring multiple performers generated more than 15 billion yuan (about 2.1 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2025.

By June, 57 professional performing arts troupes had launched regular livestreaming programs on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, staging more than 16,000 broadcasts that attracted roughly 320 million views.

THE STAGE IN THE PALM

“The dancing seems professional, but I don’t get it.”

The comment lingered with Huang Xiaoyu, who operates livestreaming programs at Shaanxi Song and Dance Theater in Xi’an, a city in northwest China known for the rich legacies of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

When the troupe first streamed one of its signature productions, the performers expected the artistry to speak for itself. But the response was underwhelming. Viewers drifted in and out within minutes, and audience numbers remained stubbornly low.

Huang realized that livestreaming was not simply about pointing a camera at a stage.

A sweeping formation that fills a stage can lose its impact on a handheld screen. Details, rhythm and interaction are key to keeping viewers engaged, said Wan Linrong, who oversees livestreaming at the China Oriental Performing Arts Group. The group is one of the production teams behind the Poetic Dance.

That realization prompted professional companies to rethink almost everything, from music and choreography to costumes and lighting, to create a visual language native to the vertical frame.

The challenge extended beyond artistic adaptation. As the camera magnified every movement, facial expression and flicker of emotion, such immediate exposure could be intimidating, even for seasoned professionals.

“At first, I was so nervous that my face literally twitched while I was dancing,” said Wang Lan, a dancer with the Shaanxi troupe.

Broadcast after broadcast, she found her footing through practice and encouragement from viewers. She hopes that, years from now, she will look back and know she didn’t spend her youth blending into the background. Instead, she stepped forward when the opportunity arose and gave it everything she had.

For many people, livestreaming has quietly reshaped careers. Its combination of stage shows and real-time audience interaction is making choreographers, camera operators and livestream directors increasingly sought-after roles in the industry.

At the Shaanxi troupe, a piece of music composed by a member of its livestream team was later featured on China’s state broadcaster CCTV. The composer said he stayed up all night watching the broadcast, replaying the moment after seeing his name appear in the credits.

For performing arts companies, livestreaming strips away some of the barriers of cost, distance and formality that can keep their performances out of reach. It also allows companies to build followings between shows: performers can explain the stories behind their work, share behind-the-scenes footage and give audiences a glimpse of how performances take shape.

That relationship can sometimes lead viewers back to the theater. Within 20 days of launching its livestreaming program in May, an opera and dance ensemble in east China’s Jiangsu Province saw its individual broadcasts surpass 1 million impressions. During the May Day holiday, the online popularity helped sell out performances at the theater.

The arrival of professional performing arts companies is also reshaping livestreaming itself. The multi-performer format is still in its early stages, with some livestreams relying on suggestive banter, competitive challenges and punishment games to attract views and rewards.

Industry figures suggest that virtual gifting in professional arts livestreams often grows faster than in ordinary entertainment broadcasts. This trend indicates that viewers may place greater value on craftsmanship than on spectacle.

To He Mu, the value of livestreaming goes beyond views and virtual gifts. It has created a deeper connection between performers and the audience, bringing them together through art as well as through everyday moments of exchange.

Viewers return day after day, asking about the meaning of a piece of music or a stage image. Some notice when her knee hurts and remind her to rest. Their curiosity and support have encouraged her to move beyond interpreting others’ creations and begin creating and sharing her own.

She still longs to return to the theater — to its lights, its stage and the immersive experience of performing a work polished over months, or even years. Her ideal, she said, is to perform onstage while continuing to livestream with the troupe.

For her, the stage has not disappeared. “It has simply expanded.” ■

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The historic site, which dates back to the 5th century AD, witnessed a dialogue between civilizations when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited there during his state visit to Mexico more than a decade ago.

In June 2013, Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, toured the site located on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, accompanied by then Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and his wife.

As they walked through the site, including the Pyramid of Kukulkan, the Great Ball Court and the Temple of the Warriors, Xi listened closely to explanations of Maya history and culture.

He asked about the meanings behind the patterns carved on the ruins and showed interest in similarities between certain Maya cultural elements and Chinese traditions, including imagery associated with the dragon.

The encounter reflected a simple yet profound idea — civilizations may differ in their histories and traditions, but they can learn from and enrich one another through dialogue and mutual respect.

“Different cultures and civilizations, while retaining their uniqueness, should tolerate and coexist with each other with an open-minded attitude so as to achieve common development and prosperity,” Xi said.

Over the years, the Chinese president has always called for seeking wisdom and drawing strength from different civilizations, while joining forces with others to tackle the common challenges facing humanity.

“There is a prospect greater than the sea, and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky, and it is the human soul,” Xi quoted Victor Hugo, a prominent French writer, as saying in his landmark United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) speech in Paris in 2014. “Indeed, we need a mind broader than the sky as we approach different civilizations.”

The visit to Chichen Itza was one example of Xi’s broader vision for exchanges among civilizations. In Paris, Xi shared stories of mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations.

“China’s Four Great Inventions, namely, papermaking, gunpowder, movable-type printing and the compass, led to changes in the world, including the European Renaissance. China’s philosophy, literature, medicine, silk, porcelain and tea reached the West and became part of people’s daily life,” he said.

These examples show that exchanges among civilizations are not a one-way process, but a source of progress driven by mutual learning.

“It is my keenly-felt conviction that an attitude of equality and modesty is required if one wants to truly understand the various civilizations,” he said.

“Taking a condescending attitude toward a civilization can not help anyone to appreciate its essence but may risk antagonizing it. Both history and reality show that pride and prejudice are the two biggest obstacles to exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations,” he added.

This approach has also been reflected in Xi’s diplomatic journeys around the world, where encounters with different cultures have become an important part of his visits.

In Trinidad and Tobago, he played the steelpan with local musicians. In Fiji, he listened to indigenous songs wearing a traditional Bula shirt. In Uzbekistan, he visited the ancient city of Bukhara, known as the “living fossil of the Silk Road.”

In Bukhara, Xi’s respect for local traditions left a lasting impression on Anvar Kurbanov, a master craftsman from the ancient city.

“I still remember President Xi watching the displayed handicrafts very intently. I could feel his heartfelt desire to understand and respect our culture,” Kurbanov said, recalling Xi’s visit to the city in 2016. “Ever since that visit, a growing number of Chinese tourists have come to Bukhara.”

In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to promote closer understanding and mutual appreciation among different civilizations. It has held cultural and tourism exchange programs, carried out joint archaeological research and promoted translations of classic works with countries including Russia and Egypt.

It has also hosted the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations and the Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations, and proposed the Global Civilization Initiative to contribute Chinese insights to bolster exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

On various international occasions, Xi has elaborated on the principles of harmony in diversity, inclusiveness and mutual learning, stressing that every country has the right to choose a development path suited to its own national conditions and the needs of its people.

“I have often emphasized that China’s goal is to be a great learning nation. We must avoid complacency and self-importance. Instead, we must be modest and humble, study hard and keep enhancing our capabilities,” Xi said in a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi, India, in 2014.

“It is such a learning spirit featuring humility and inclusiveness that has enabled the Chinese nation to make continuous progress for thousands of years,” he added.■

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Xi’s Album | Xi holds talks with Slovak president in Beijing

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2026-07-28 16:24:16

BEIJING, (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini in Beijing on Tuesday.

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On Saturday, the Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, marking global recognition of a living tradition that remains a treasured gem of Chinese civilization.

The inscription also reflects China’s years of efforts to preserve and make alive this centuries-old craft — a cause that Chinese President Xi Jinping has consistently championed.

PASSING ON

Porcelain has been widely taken as one of the most representative symbol of Chinese civilization. For years, Xi has remained deeply committed to China’s cultural heritage and emphasized its preservation as a way to promote the finest traditional Chinese culture.

In October 2023, Xi visited Jingdezhen, globally renowned as the “Porcelain Capital,” where the glow of kiln fires has illuminated 2,000 years of ceramic history. At the Taoyangli Historical and Cultural Block, he toured the Nanlu Ruins, the Ceramic Museum, and the Ming and Qing Dynasty (1368-1911) kiln complex, learning about the intricate processes and cultural legacy behind the city’s celebrated porcelain craft.

During the visit, Xi met Sun Lixin, a fourth-generation craftsman carrying forward his family’s porcelain-making tradition. Admiring the craftsmanship, Xi asked, “Do you paint according to a design, or do you rely on your sense of touch?”

“It’s all in my heart,” Sun replied.

“Devoting one’s entire life to a single craft, with generations of a family committed to the same pursuit, is no simple undertaking,” Xi said.

“The fine traditional culture passed down by our ancestors is something we must continue to hold in our hands, adapt to the times, and carry forward,” he added.

Xi’s long-standing commitment to preserving Chinese porcelain culture can be traced back to his years working in east China’s Zhejiang province in the early 2000s, when he placed great importance on protecting and promoting the country’s rich ceramic heritage.

Xi made several visits to Longquan, a city in southwestern Zhejiang known for its centuries-old celadon tradition. He emphasized that Longquan celadon was a Chinese cultural treasure and called for the establishment of a museum to preserve and showcase this valuable heritage.

In 2009, the museum was officially opened. That same year, the traditional firing techniques of Longquan celadon were inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Longquan would become one illustration of a much broader agenda. Over the years, Xi has made cultural heritage protection a recurring theme of his domestic inspections, visiting sites ranging from the Forbidden City and the Grand Canal to Jiayuguan Pass and the Yin Ruins. With his push, more Chinese cultural sites have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

“Protecting, preserving and making good use of these invaluable treasures is our shared responsibility,” Xi once said. “It is also essential to ensuring the continuity of human civilization and advancing sustainable development around the world.”

TRAVERSING CIVILIZATIONS

Beyond its artistic value, porcelain has long served as a bridge fostering mutual learning among civilizations. Through the ancient Silk Road, porcelain vases, jars and bowls adorned the royal courts of Europe, becoming collectors’ highly coveted items.

For Xi, porcelain is more than a craft; it is a cultural ambassador that carries China’s artistic traditions and civilizational heritage to the world. From presenting porcelain as state gifts to foreign dignitaries to showcasing historic masterpieces at major international gatherings, Xi has used the timeless art form to tell the story of China’s rich cultural legacy.

In May 2019, Xi highlighted a rare Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) blue-and-white porcelain vase to foreign leaders while touring a cultural exhibition ahead of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations held in Beijing.

He noted that very few blue-and-white porcelain vases from the Yuan Dynasty have survived, describing the precious artifact as “the panda of ceramics.”

Xi, on many occasions, has also used porcelain to illustrate the transformative power of exchanges between civilizations. In a signed article published ahead of his state visit to Portugal in 2018, Xi wrote, “China’s blue and white porcelain, which was first shipped to Portugal centuries ago, inspired a fusion of Chinese and local techniques, producing a unique form of art Azulejo.”

Chinese ceramics have had a wide influence on art throughout the world and the artistic trends in the West, like Europe, and other places, said Jad Tabet, a Franco-Lebanese architect and former representative to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

The enduring vitality of China’s ceramic art and the global growth of the porcelain industry offer a vivid example of how civilizational exchange can promote common development and progress. As Xi once noted in a speech at UNESCO headquarters, civilizations have become richer and more colorful with exchanges and mutual learning.

“Such exchanges and mutual learning form an important drive for human progress and global peace and development,” he said.■

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