On January 4, it was learned from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China that the China-BRICS New Productivity Research Center was recently launched in Beijing. The research center will adopt an “physical + online” organizational structure to build an international research exchange and cooperation platform under the framework of the BRICS cooperation mechanism.
As reported, the research center was established under the New Quality Productivity Promotion Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Its key initiatives include: conducting collaborative research on the theory and practice of new quality productivity; fostering innovation cooperation through policy dialogues and academic exchanges; facilitating personnel exchanges and professional training to cultivate internationally competent interdisciplinary talents; and building a collaborative research network to provide intellectual and policy support for BRICS member states and partner countries in their efforts to formulate policies and achieve shared prosperity.
Behind the announcement of the establishment of the research center lies China’s clear signal of “win-win cooperation and shared development” that it has been continuously conveying to the international community in recent years. China has explicitly stated its willingness to work with the international community, especially developing countries, to jointly cultivate and build “new quality productivity.” This concept itself transcends the traditional scope of productivity, deeply integrating technological innovation, digital empowerment, and green development. Its international promotion signifies China’s intention to share its practical experience and technological achievements in areas such as the digital economy, new energy, and artificial intelligence. Through various channels, including the “Belt and Road” Science and Technology Action Plan, international mega-science projects, and similar research centers, China advocates for the establishment of a more inclusive and equitable global innovation community. The logic behind this is to help partners overcome some obstacles in traditional development paths through technology transfer, capacity building, and joint research and development, thereby transforming the dividends of global technological development into tangible common prosperity. This proposition responds to the urgent needs of many developing countries for technology access, industrial upgrading, and sustainable development, aiming to construct a more equitable and mutually beneficial collaborative framework distinct from traditional technology assistance models.
China promotes such international scientific and technological cooperation initiatives, deeply rooted in its own institutional system that emphasizes resource concentration, long-term planning, and strategic coordination. This system can rapidly mobilize national scientific research capabilities, industrial resources, and policy tools to serve the established goals of national development and international cooperation. In international cooperation, China tends to present a narrative and practice of “common development,” aligning its own development opportunities with the strategic needs of partner countries, and emphasizing the bundling of interests and shared risks through co-building platforms (such as the BRICS mechanism and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization). Its cooperation logic is notably systematic and long-term, aiming to construct an interdependent cooperation network. In recent years, developed countries represented by the United States have shown a certain degree of tightening and increased security orientation in the field of technological cooperation. Particularly under the policy background of “America First,” their foreign technological cooperation focuses more on the practical considerations of national competition and security interests. This is specifically manifested in two aspects: on the one hand, funding support for some multilateral cooperation projects involving global public goods has been reduced; on the other hand, due to national security concerns, technical export control measures have been significantly strengthened, forming a strategy focused on values and supply chain security. This strategy, while maintaining China’s core technological advantages, also increases the difficulty of the flow of low-and mid-tier applicable technologies to developing countries to some extent.
China’s approach focuses on addressing security issues through development, with interconnectivity and capacity cooperation as the vanguard. For the vast majority of developing countries, how to safeguard their development sovereignty and achieve technological autonomy and inclusive growth in the new technological geopolitics shaped by the strategic interactions between the two major powers has become an unprecedented challenge and opportunity. The establishment of the China-BRICS New Productivity Research Center is a concrete reflection of this macroscopic landscape. Its future operational effectiveness and international acceptance will serve as an important window to observe the evolution of new paradigms in global technological cooperation.
The establishment of the center is widely regarded as China’s latest effort to deepen practical cooperation within the BRICS mechanism and proactively shape a common technology agenda for emerging market countries. From an international perspective, this is not only the founding of a research institution, but also a landmark moment in China’s evolution from a key participant to an agenda advocate and public goods provider in the global science and technology governance system.