CCPIT and BRICS Business Cooperation: Past, Present, and Future

The BRICS cooperation mechanism has gone through 18 years of development since its inception in 2006. In 2006, China, India, Russia, and Brazil held their first foreign ministers' meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York, marking the preliminary formation of this cooperation mechanism. Subsequently, this concept gradually transformed into a practical cooperation framework.

In 2009, the leaders of the four countries held their first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, officially establishing the BRICS cooperation mechanism. In 2010, the inclusion of South Africa expanded the mechanism to five countries. By 2024, the addition of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt further expanded the BRICS cooperation mechanism, forming a "greater BRICS" configuration.

The BRICS Leaders' Summit is the core event of this cooperation mechanism, and since 2009, it has successfully held 16 editions. Under the summit framework, the BRICS Business Forum has become an important platform for business cooperation. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has played a key role in this process, not only organizing Chinese enterprises to participate in cooperation but also being responsible for organizing related activities.

In 2011, the first meeting of the BRICS business community was held in Sanya, Hainan, marking the beginning of BRICS business cooperation. In 2013, in Durban, South Africa, the BRICS Business Council was established to strengthen the connections between the business communities of the five countries. In 2020, in the face of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the BRICS Women in Business Alliance was established, providing a new platform for cooperation for women entrepreneurs.

With the continuous deepening of the cooperation mechanism, the scale and influence of the BRICS Business Forum have also been expanding. In 2017, the BRICS Leaders' Summit was held in Xiamen, along with the second BRICS Business Forum. In 2018, the summit took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the Business Forum was held outside of China for the first time.

In 2021, under the guidance of the CCPIT, the Chinese side of the BRICS Women in Business Alliance hosted two BRICS Women's Innovation Competitions. In 2022, despite the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the BRICS Business Forum was held in Beijing in a hybrid format of online and offline, and the "BRICS Business Community Beijing Initiative" was released.

In 2023, the BRICS Women's Leadership Forum was held in Beijing, and the "2023 BRICS Women's Development Report" was released. In 2024, with the addition of new members, the BRICS cooperation mechanism has entered a new stage of development. Before the Leaders' Summit, the BRICS Women's Leadership Forum was held in Beijing, and the "BRICS Women's Development Report" was published. In October of the same year, the BRICS Business Forum was held in Moscow, discussing the potential for cooperation among BRICS countries in the field of economy and trade.

The expansion of the BRICS cooperation mechanism has increased its influence in the global economy. With the addition of new members, the BRICS countries have significantly increased their share in the global population, total trade, GDP, and crude oil exports. In the new international environment, the BRICS cooperation mechanism is expected to provide more effective solutions for the world and explore a new type of inclusive, fair, and pragmatic cooperation path.