On March 24th, the BRICS Think Tank Council (BTTC) held its first meeting in 2022 online. The BTTC members, China Council for BRICS Think-tank Cooperation (CCBTC), Institute for Applied Economic Research (Brazil), Russian National Committee on BRICS Research, Observer Research Foundation (India) and South African BRICS Think Tank attended the meeting. The meeting included a report on the important agenda and achievements of the BRICS think tank cooperation in 2021 by the representative of India, and discussion on proposals of BRICS think tank exchange and cooperation in 2022 as put forward by CCBTC. Jin Xin, Secretary-General of CCBTC and Director General of the Research Office of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting and introduced the 2022 agenda.

Jin Xin said that at present, the global development environment is characterized by more uncertainty and instability. In this context, BRICS countries urgently need to build high-quality development partnerships and rely on collective efforts to seize development opportunities, meet development challenges and achieve strong, green and healthy development. To this end, China regards "development" as the key word for exchanges and cooperation among BRICS think tanks in 2022, and will hold the 14th BRICS Academic Forum, BTTC Meeting, a series of BRICS Think Tank Symposiums and BRICS PartNIR Meetings, and compile the BRICS Proceedings. The aim is to gather wisdom and consensus for BRICS countries to achieve "solidarity and cooperation towards common development and a brighter future".

BTTC members spoke highly of India's contribution to promoting exchanges and cooperation among BRICS think tanks as the chair in 2021, and fully affirmed China's ideas on exchanges and cooperation among BRICS think tanks in 2022. The BTTC coordinators from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa all indicated that they would support China’s presidency and work together to implement all the programs on the detailed agenda in an orderly manner and meet the requirements. All parties look forward to strengthening the friendly relations and cooperation on BTTC platform, and working together to bring exchanges and cooperation of BRICS think tanks to a new level, continuously deepen BRICS cooperation so that it could play a bigger role on the global stage.

(Source: International Department. Central Committee of CPC)