Is BRICS Becoming A China-Centred Trading Ecosystem?

As India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, the grouping is entering the summit with a much larger membership and a much bigger economic footprint.

But the latest trade data points to another change inside the bloc. China is accounting for a growing share of BRICS merchandise trade, while India's share remains considerably smaller.

According to a September 2026 report by Rubix Data Sciences, China's share of overall BRICS merchandise exports increased from 56% in 2022 to 66% in the first half of 2026. China's share of BRICS imports also rose from 54% to 59% during the same period.

India, by comparison, accounted for about 8% of BRICS exports and 16% of imports in H1 2026.

The numbers do not establish that BRICS has become a China-led trading bloc. But they show how uneven the economic weight within the expanded grouping has become.

China's Share Of BRICS Exports Rises

BRICS began with Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining later. The grouping has since expanded to 11 members with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Rubix report estimates that the 11 BRICS economies together account for about 49.5% of the global population and around 40% of global GDP. In 2025, BRICS countries accounted for about 24% of global merchandise exports and 19% of global merchandise imports.

The bloc's merchandise trade has also picked up in 2026.

BRICS exports stood at nearly $6.1 trillion in 2025. In H1 2026, exports reached around $3.2 trillion, a 12.5% increase over H1 2025.

China alone accounted for $2.124 trillion of those exports in the first half of the year. Its exports grew about 17% year on year. And as a result, China's share of total BRICS exports increased to 66% in H1 2026 from 56% in 2022. India, meanwhile, accounted for about 8%.

China's position on the import side is also significant.

BRICS imports stood at about $4.9 trillion in 2025 and rose to approximately $2.6 trillion in H1 2026, up 19.1% from the first half of 2025. China's imports reached $1.545 trillion, up about 26% year on year.

That gave China a 59% share of BRICS imports in H1 2026, compared with 54% in 2022. India's share was about 16%.

The rise in China's share has therefore happened on both sides of the trade ledger. It is not only exporting more within the grouping but is also responsible for a large portion of BRICS imports.

India Is Major Market For China, But Trade Is Tilted

India's position in this network is important because it is one of China's biggest trading partners within BRICS. India was China's largest export destination among the other 10 BRICS members in H1 2026, accounting for nearly 26% of China's exports to the bloc, as per the report. Russia accounted for about 20% and Indonesia 16%.

Together, India, Russia and Indonesia accounted for around 61% of China's exports to the other BRICS members.

But the value of trade between India and China remains heavily tilted towards Chinese exports.

China's exports to India increased from $119 billion in 2022 to $136 billion in 2025. In H1 2026, they rose 21.5% year on year to $79 billion.

Chinese imports from India, meanwhile, stood at $20 billion in 2025, compared with $17 billion in 2022. In H1 2026, imports from India rose 33.3% year on year to $12 billion.

China's trade surplus with India consequently reached $67 billion in H1 2026, up 19.6% from H1 2025.

Electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, organic chemicals and plastics were among the major products behind China's exports to India. India's exports to China included ores and minerals, iron and steel, organic chemicals and cotton.

India's overall trade position with BRICS shows a similar imbalance.

In H1 2026, India exported about $48 billion worth of goods to the other 10 BRICS members, while imports stood at $178 billion. Imports were therefore nearly 3.7 times exports.

China and Russia were the largest sources of India's imports from BRICS, accounting for 41% and 20%, respectively. The UAE and China were India's biggest export destinations within the grouping, accounting for 34% and 22%.

India's trade deficit with the other BRICS members widened from $111 billion in H1 2025 to about $130 billion in H1 2026.

India recorded trade surpluses with only Egypt and Ethiopia. Its largest deficits were with China, at about $62.9 billion, and Russia, at $33.6 billion.

China Is Not Only India's Problem Within BRICS

China's growing weight is also visible in its trade with other major BRICS economies.

Russia was China's largest import source among the other BRICS members in H1 2026, accounting for nearly 28% of China's imports from the bloc. Brazil and Indonesia followed with around 25% and 21%.

Together, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia accounted for about 74% of China's imports from the other BRICS members.

China-Russia trade has also expanded faster than China-India trade in recent years.

Bilateral goods trade between China and Russia rose from $190 billion in 2022 to $227 billion in 2025. It reached $133 billion in H1 2026, up 25.5% year on year.

China imported $73 billion worth of goods from Russia in the first half of the year, with mineral fuels, crude oil, petroleum products, ores and metals among the major categories. Its exports to Russia reached $60 billion and included machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles and plastics.

This gives China large trading relationships with some of the biggest economies inside the expanded BRICS grouping.

The latest data also comes as China itself remains considerably larger economically than the other BRICS members. A recent Indian Express analysis highlighted the significant economic gap between China and the rest of the bloc, with China's economic size giving it greater weight within the grouping.

Bigger BRICS Gives India More Partners, But Harder Balancing Act

The expansion of BRICS has changed the nature of the grouping.

The expanded BRICS gives India a wider Global South constituency and connects it more closely with countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, a report by Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), said

At the same time, the report argues that expansion has made coalition management more complicated for New Delhi. The three key  challenges for India are; managing China without making BRICS China-centric, maintaining ties with Russia without adopting Moscow's confrontation with the West, and working with newer members. For India, this is where the trade data becomes relevant to the larger BRICS debate.

The expanded group gives New Delhi more countries with which it can increase trade, investment and economic cooperation. But the largest economy inside the grouping is also increasing its share of intra-BRICS trade.

The ISDP report points to China's greater economic scale, deeper trade relationships with BRICS members, lending capacity and infrastructure presence as advantages that India cannot easily replicate. India's approach should instead be to build relationships with multiple members and prevent the grouping from becoming identified with one country's initiatives, the report says.

That does not mean India has little to gain from BRICS.

The grouping gives India a platform to work with other emerging and developing economies on issues such as development finance, supply chains, technology, energy and cross-border payments. It also gives New Delhi a forum where it can work with China and Russia while maintaining its separate relationships with the US, Europe, Japan and other partners.

Push For Easier Cross-Border Payments

One of the areas where India's approach to BRICS can be seen clearly is payments.

India is pushing for greater interoperability between central bank digital currencies of BRICS members to make cross-border payments easier. The proposal follows an earlier BRICS effort to improve payment-system interoperability.

But the proposal also shows the limits of economic integration within BRICS.

Political and technical hurdles remain, including India's concerns about deeper financial integration with China, as per a Reuters report. The proposed system is aimed at making international transactions easier and faster and is not being presented by India as a move to replace the US dollar as a reserve currency.

This distinction matters because some BRICS members have pushed for reducing their dependence on Western financial systems, while India has generally taken a more cautious position on the idea of de-dollarisation.

Notably, senior Indian officials had made clear there was no de-dollarisation agenda at this year's summit.

For India, payment cooperation can therefore be pursued as a way to reduce transaction costs and improve trade without necessarily turning BRICS into a common-currency or anti-dollar project.

The India-China Question Is Back At The Centre

The timing of the summit also matters for the India-China relationship.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is travelling to India for the BRICS summit, and China and India are also arranging a bilateral meeting between Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing wanted to approach ties with India from a "strategic and long-term perspective" while improving communication and managing differences.

The economic ties between the two countries remain constrained by regulatory barriers, visa issues, restrictions involving investment and technology, and continuing mistrust despite a broader diplomatic thaw.

The bilateral relationship therefore sits alongside the wider BRICS question.

India needs China for some of the economic objectives it wants to pursue through the grouping, while the trade numbers show that China already has a much larger economic weight within BRICS.

At the same time, India remains one of the largest markets for Chinese goods within the bloc.

Is BRICS Becoming China-Centred?

The latest trade numbers provide a clear answer to one part of the question.

China's economic weight inside BRICS is increasing. Its share of the bloc's exports has risen from 56% in 2022 to 66% in H1 2026. Its share of imports has risen from 54% to 59%.

India's share remains much smaller at 8% of exports and 16% of imports.

But the second part of the question is less straightforward.

BRICS is not only a trade arrangement. Its members have different political systems, economic structures, regional interests and relationships with the US, Europe and China. The expansion has made those differences more visible.

Rubix's numbers also show that BRICS as a whole is not simply becoming a China-only trade network. Total merchandise trade of the 11 members reached about $5.8 trillion in H1 2026, up 15.4% YoY. China's trade grew strongly, but so did trade in several other member economies. South Africa's total merchandise trade grew about 20%, India's about 12% and Russia's 11.6% during the period.

The issue for India is therefore less about whether China is already in control of BRICS and more about how much influence its economic scale can generate as trade within the expanded grouping grows.

The New Delhi summit arrives at that point of tension.

BRICS is larger, its combined trade is recovering and its membership gives India access to a wider group of emerging economies.