# BRICS Agrees to Settle More Trade in Its Own Currencies and Link Payment Systems

The New Delhi declaration stops short of a common currency, while Xi Jinping offers an open-source artificial-intelligence zone for the bloc.

- Published: 2026-09-14T05:15:04.343Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-14/brics-agrees-to-settle-more-trade-in-its-own-currencies-and
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: macro
- Sources: [Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/09/14/chinas-xi-jinping-proposes-brics-open-source-ai-zone), [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/videos/why-the-brics-summit-was-a-major-diplomatic-win-for-india/article71465371.ece), [BBC News Hindi](https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cjrx0erd2z5o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss), [South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367315/under-trumps-shadow-brics-takes-step-towards-de-dollarisation)

The 18th BRICS summit closed in New Delhi with a declaration whose economic core is narrow and concrete. Members committed to expanding trade and investment settled in their own national currencies, and to connecting their domestic payment and messaging systems so transactions can clear [without passing through the dollar](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3367315/under-trumps-shadow-brics-takes-step-towards-de-dollarisation). The text does not endorse a common BRICS currency, an idea India has consistently resisted.

Chinese President Xi Jinping used the meeting to propose that China lead an [open-source zone for artificial intelligence](https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/09/14/chinas-xi-jinping-proposes-brics-open-source-ai-zone) across the 11-member group, covering large language models, training, and shared research, along with a call for a consensus-based global governance framework for the technology.

Indian coverage treated the outcome as a diplomatic success for the host. The Hindu described New Delhi's role as [mediating between rival members](https://www.thehindu.com/videos/why-the-brics-summit-was-a-major-diplomatic-win-for-india/article71465371.ece) and pushing for reform of global governance institutions. BBC Hindi took a different view, reporting that the war involving Iran [revealed real divisions in the group](https://www.bbc.com/hindi/articles/cjrx0erd2z5o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss), with members agreeing that a new global order is needed but unable to agree on what should replace the current one or how to get there.

Both accounts can be true at once. Payment infrastructure is where currency systems actually change, and it changes slowly, through bilateral settlement lines and message routing rather than through declarations. What matters is not whether the bloc reaches unanimous agreement, but whether the share of BRICS trade invoiced outside the dollar keeps rising while members disagree about everything else.

## What this means

Linking national payment systems reduces the number of transactions that require dollar clearing, which slowly erodes the demand for dollar balances that underpins American funding costs. The effect is gradual and shows up first in commodity trade between China, India, Russia, and Gulf producers, where the invoicing currency is negotiable. United States banks lose fee income and visibility, while central banks within the bloc gain the ability to trade during sanctions episodes. Nothing here threatens the dollar's reserve role in the near term, and that is exactly why it continues without triggering a policy response.

## What to watch

- Announcements of bilateral local-currency settlement lines in the months after the summit, which would show whether the declaration turns into actual transaction volume.
- Whether India joins any China-led artificial-intelligence initiative in practice. New Delhi has consistently accepted BRICS economic cooperation while declining Chinese technology leadership.
- The share of Russian and Gulf oil sales invoiced in currencies other than the dollar, the clearest measurable test of whether de-dollarisation is advancing.