Qualifier contest starts to widen market prospects in BRICS, 'BRICS+' countries

Amid global energy structure transformation, an international competition has started in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, to help bolster green transition and solidify market prospects from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and "BRICS+" countries.

The 2025 BRICS Industrial Innovation Competition Qualifier Contest for the Energy Electronics Industry Track is being held in Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone between Aug 20 and 21.

Zhang Qiang, deputy director of the International Economic and Technical Cooperation Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said BRICS countries account for roughly 40 percent of global energy consumption. Accelerating renewables — particularly photovoltaics and energy storage — is therefore a critical pathway for the bloc's green transition.

Organizers noted the expansion of BRICS member states and the addition of BRICS partner countries in 2024 have enabled a broader international participation to this year's competition.

It has been learned that the competition track is not only open to traditional BRICS countries such as Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, but also to newly joined member states and "BRICS+" countries, such as Bolivia and Mexico.

The qualifier attracted 63 cutting-edge projects from enterprises and research institutes in Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and "BRICS+" partner countries, covering PV materials, sodium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries, PV-based hydrogen production and other frontier fields.

Since its inception in 2020, the qualifier has been successfully held five times, creating a positive atmosphere for innovative cooperation and talent cultivation within the partnership.

Besides Zhang, Luna Rojas, minister-counselor from the embassy of Bolivia in China, Zong Yafeng, deputy secretary-general of Zhaoqing Municipal People's Government, and Jiang Zequan, Party secretary and director of Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone Administrative Committee, and other related officials attended the opening conference on Aug 20.

Zhang said the Contest for the Energy Electronics Industry Track focuses precisely on PV and advanced storage to link technology R&D, product deployment and market uptake, enabling "BRICS wisdom" to deliver solutions for a greener global energy mix.

During the qualifier contest, teams will pitch their innovations before a panel that will score each project on innovation, technical merit, maturity, social impact and feasibility for deployment.

Projects will compete across three parallel tracks — Photovoltaics Track, Energy Storage Track, and Gaodingduan Science-Education Innovation Corridor Track.

Nearly half of the projects showcased in the Gaodingduan corridor track have already reached preliminary collaboration agreements with companies in Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone, showcasing the industrial and commercialization lure of Guangdong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

At the end of August, an awarding ceremony will be held in Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone.

In recent years, Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone has closely followed the layout of Zhaoqing as a key area for the automotive industry in the province, and has been committed to building a first-class new energy vehicle production base and power and energy storage battery manufacturing base in China.

In 2023, the new energy vehicle industry in Zhaoqing High-tech Industrial Development Zone was recognized by the ministry as a national-level new energy intelligent networked small and medium-sized enterprise characteristic industry cluster. In 2024, it was recognized by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology as a provincial-level new energy storage characteristic industrial park, the only one of its kind in Guangdong at present.

As the host, the development zone has built a complete industrial chain and innovation ecosystem in new-energy vehicles and advanced energy storage. In the first half of 2025, XPeng Motors produced 88,700 vehicles, while the Reptech Zhaoqing Phase-II containerized BESS workshop started operation in June.

Moreover, driven by such flagship enterprises, the zone now hosts 80-odd NEV-chain companies spanning vehicles, batteries, core components, lightweighting, and after-sales services, forming a core cluster of Guangdong's "New-Energy Strategic Emerging Industries."