Clockwise from top: The BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) Innovation Center in Xiamen, Fujian province. Participants of a training program held by the BPIC in 2023 learn about Chinese intelligent manufacturing. International visitors at the BRICS Forum on Partnership on New Industrial Revolution 2024. CHINA DAILY

The BRICS New Industry Golden Egret Excellence Scholarship program was revealed and opened for applications during the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, adding a new dimension to talent development and cooperation within the BRICS grouping.

Applications for the scholarships are open until July 25, targeting individuals from BRICS member states and partner countries, along with other emerging markets and developing economies. Eligible applicants include officials at the director level or above from government departments responsible for overseeing industry, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, information technology, digital economy or green development.

Sponsored by the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) Innovation Center, or BPIC, the scholarship program also seeks mid- to senior-level managers, engineers, or top technical experts from leading enterprises in new industries, new industrialization or new quality productive forces in their respective countries, as well as high-level researchers from universities and research institutions.

The scholarship for this year, totaling 3 million yuan ($418,756), will be used to fund the 2025 BPIC Training Program on Industrial Green Development and Digitalization, scheduled to take place in Shenzhen of Guangdong province, Xiamen of Fujian province, and Beijing from Aug 27 to Sept 25.

The scholarship program aims to attract and cultivate outstanding young talents from BRICS members, partner countries and other emerging markets and developing economies by providing financial support for training programs to facilitate collaboration and growth in multiple sectors while fostering exchanges among those countries.

Since its inception at the end of 2020 in Xiamen, the BPIC has focused on policy coordination, personnel training and project development. The BPIC has established eight platforms aimed at empowering new industrial revolution sectors involving supply chain cooperation and innovation.

Fostering coordination

In April 2024, the BPIC launched BRICS Quality Code — a blockchain-based service tool — by establishing a standardized coding system that provides high-quality products with a unique digital identity. The initiative is focused on scenarios such as cross-border e-commerce, textile and garment processing, cold chain logistics, supply chain finance and digital culture, offering enterprises solutions for product inspection, certification and traceability, along with digital supply chain management.

"We are starting from the main application scenarios, with the aim of empowering cooperation within the BRICS industry chain and promoting the mutual recognition and interconnectivity of standards among BRICS countries," said Yuan Yuming, manager at the Southeast China innovation center under the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

By October 2024, the coding system had provided codes for more than 2,000 products from 145 businesses in BRICS countries, with the number of codes assigned exceeding 3.86 million times, according to Yuan.

In addition to the coding system, the BPIC has strengthened policy coordination by organizing events such as the BRICS Forum on Partnership on New Industrial Revolution, competitions, exhibitions and think tank seminars. These initiatives have promoted exchanges and cooperation among different sectors, fostering a shared development consensus.

The BPIC has also launched a BRICS service section within the Xiamen International Trade Single Window, providing integrated services combining customs clearance and logistics for freight routes online, and opened China's first BRICS cities cross-border e-commerce air route, the Xiamen-Sao Paulo line, which boasts a 100 percent cargo load rate. These highquality public goods and trade facilitation platforms are advancing cooperative efforts among BRICS countries.

Project development

The BPIC has initiated several demonstration projects to showcase innovation-driven development. For example, the Xiamen Representative Office of the Piaui State Strategic Investment Promotion Agency, which is the first foreign enterprise permanent representative office approved by a BRICS country local government, was set up in Xiamen last October. It aims to create a platform for exchange and mutual cooperation between Chinese investors and the government and enterprises of Piaui state in Brazil.

China has become Brazil's largest trading partner, and the establishment of the Xiamen representative office will open up opportunities for bilateral exchanges and cooperation between Brazil and Xiamen in fields such as economy, trade, culture, technology and education, said Rafael Tajra Fonteles, governor of the state of Piaui.

Fonteles said he hoped that Piaui would become a strategic gateway for Chinese companies entering the Brazilian market.

The BPIC has signed 107 BRICS cooperation projects with a total investment of 50.6 billion yuan since its establishment. Projects such as the China-BRICS Science and Innovation Incubation Park for the New Era and the Institute for Digital Economy and Artificial Systems have been established to incubate hard-tech enterprises that can be replicated across BRICS nations. Moreover, the BPIC has initiated construction of the headquarters projects and organized the Buy in BRICS event series. It has also established an alliance of the blockchain industry and set up a special zone for BRICS legal affairs.

"The BPIC is one of the important platforms under the BRICS cooperation mechanism. We welcome the center to deepen its exchanges with South African local governments and research institutions, and to promote in-depth cooperation across various fields such as industry, technology and trade," said Siyabonga Cwele, South Africa's former ambassador to China.

Personnel training

Leveraging the platform advantages of the BPIC, the Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital Xiamen University established the BRICS Cardiovascular Health Innovation Center in September 2022, developing exchange and cooperation mechanisms with hospitals in BRICS countries. In 2023, it launched the Heart Sapling visiting scholar program.

The program recruits young cardiovascular specialists from BRICS countries for training in China. To date, it has enrolled 26 trainees from 12 countries, including Brazil, Russia, Egypt, El Salvador and Indonesia, for training in Xiamen. This initiative supports BRICS cooperation in medical health and puts the Global Development Initiative into practice.

"While inviting trainees from BRICS countries to come here, we are also actively going abroad," said Xu Liangyou, office director of the Xiamen Cardiovascular Hospital and director for the program.

Medical experts from the hospital have traveled to countries such as Brazil, El Salvador and Indonesia to provide surgical guidance, helping to improve local cardiovascular treatment standards.

Focusing on the needs of BRICS countries, the BPIC continues to develop exemplary professional training programs. So far, it has organized more than 80 online and offline talent training sessions, reaching over 3 million instances of participation from more than 100 countries.

In September 2024, the BPIC organized a training program focusing on AI technology and governance excellence, attracting 30 participants from 16 countries, including Russia, Brazil and Ethiopia, and engaged in learning and exchange activities in cities such as Xiamen, Hefei of Anhui province and Beijing.

"We have observed the development of AI technology in China and see many experiences worth learning from," said an official from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies in South Africa, who attended the training program.