The five Brics nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – have announced the admission of six new countries from next year as the club of large and populous emerging economies seeks to reshape the global order.
Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE are to become full members from 1 January 2024, the group announced at its summit in South Africa.
“This membership expansion is historic,” said the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, whose country is the most powerful in the group of non-western states that represents a quarter of the world’s economy.