Xi Jinping described the expansion of the Brics club of emerging economies as “historic,” but it’s not clear how far the countries’ interests overlap.

While addressing leaders gathered at a conference center in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial hub, the president said that the growth of Brics “will further strengthen the force for world peace and development.”.

Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are often viewed as counterweights to western-led economies.

In January, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will join.

As a way to counter Western dominance, China was pushing hardest for group expansion.

According to Steve Tsang, director of London’s Soas China Institute, though the Brics members have little in common, President Xi was showing them that they all want the same future: none of them want to live in a Western-dominated society.

Prof Tsang says the Chinese offer an alternative world order in which autocrats can feel secure in their own countries.

It is possible for them to find an alternative direction of development without accepting the conditions imposed by the democratic American and European powers.”

Xi Jinping described the expansion of the Brics club of emerging economies as “historic,” but it’s not clear how far the countries’ interests overlap.

While addressing leaders gathered at a conference center in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial hub, the president said that the growth of Brics “will further strengthen the force for world peace and development.”.

Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are often viewed as counterweights to western-led economies.

In January, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will join.

As a way to counter Western dominance, China was pushing hardest for group expansion.

The Soas China Institute’s Steve Tsang says President Xi was trying to show his fellow Brics members that they all want a similar future, not a Western-dominated one.

Prof Tsang says the Chinese offer an alternative world order in which autocrats can feel secure in their own countries.

“They can find an alternative direction of development without having to accept the conditionality’s imposed by the democratic Americans and European powers.”