CGTN poll: Six in 10 respondents see a growing BRICS role in global affairs

As the 18th BRICS Summit gets under way in 2026, a survey conducted by CGTN among 12,250 respondents across 41 countries shows that more than six in 10 respondents believe BRICS has grown more influential in international affairs in recent years. Respondents view positively the bloc's role as a leading force of the Global South in improving global governance and advancing a fair and just international order.

In the survey, 63% of respondents gave positive assessments of BRICS' contribution to improving the global governance system. Respondents in 25 of the 41 countries surveyed registered approval rates above 60%. The three areas earning the highest recognition were: helping emerging markets and developing countries support global economic recovery and trade growth; advancing global governance reform and strengthening the voice of emerging markets and developing countries; and supporting international trade cooperation while opposing protectionism and unilateral sanctions.

This summit comes after BRICS completed two rounds of expansion and launched its partner-country mechanism. The expanded grouping, 11 full members and 10 partner countries, now covers emerging markets and developing countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. In the survey, 61.6% of respondents agreed that cooperation within the expanded BRICS helps steer the international order toward greater fairness and justice. Approval exceeded 60% across all age groups under 44, peaking at 66.6% among respondents aged 25 to 34, while approval in Global South countries outpaced that in developed countries by 26.4 percentage points.

Notably, as the financial cornerstone of South-South cooperation, the New Development Bank has approved 139 projects with total lending of $42.9 billion. BRICS countries are also exploring local-currency settlement and cross-border payment systems. In the survey, 65.6% of respondents positively assessed BRICS' push for local-currency settlement and a more diversified international monetary system, believing it has effectively amplified the voice of Global South countries in global financial governance – a view shared by more than half of respondents in developed countries.

As a founding member of BRICS, China has been committed to upgrading and strengthening BRICS cooperation. According to the General Administration of Customs, in the first half of 2025, China's trade in goods with other BRICS members and partner countries reached 6.11 trillion yuan, or 28.1% of China's total foreign trade. Global respondents identified three major contributions by China to the high-quality development of the BRICS cooperation mechanism: leveraging its vast market and solid growth to create opportunities for fellow members; playing a key role in establishing the New Development Bank to finance infrastructure in the Global South; and providing conceptual leadership for BRICS cooperation, including through its Global Governance Initiative.

The survey covered major developed economies and Global South countries. All respondents were members of the general public aged 18 and above, and the sample matches each country's census distribution by age and gender.