CHINA'S APPROACHES TO THE BRICS: REGIONAL GEOPOLITICS AND BILATERAL DIMENSIONS

This paper provides a critical overview of China's strategy in the BRICS. In the wake of the expansion of the membership of the group with the inclusion of five new members -Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, UAE, and Egypt- in January 2024, and the shifting regional and global geopolitical situations, China's objectives and strategies in the institution gain significance for understanding how China is crafting its strategy as a rising power. While the fluid geopolitical situation due to sluggish global economic recovery, flaring up of conflicts, namely the Israel-Hamas war, Russia-Ukraine war with global economic and geopolitical consequences, and rising tensions between China and the USA make the expanded BRICS geopolitically significant, these changes also bear upon the bilateral and regional dynamics of relationships among member states and the very role of the institution as such. In this respect, this essay answers the following questions: whether and how do these factors shape the group's identity and role? In this respect, the essay contextualizes China's strategy in the BRICS within its more extensive approach to multilateralism in the last two decades.CHINA'S APPROACHES TO THE BRICS: REGIONAL GEOPOLITICS AND BILATERAL DIMENSIONSResearch Article