Yeah but they're fully content in simply delaying the inevitable as much as they can.

China by itself is only really behind in microchip litho fabs which is probably the most advanced and complicated tech humanity has created. What they truly lack is currency stability backing for trade.

For the time being, BRICS will just be a stepping stone because USD still has an iron grip on the global economy. China is playing the long game by letting it slip away slowly via loans and foreign investments to replace stuff like IMF loans. Any huge action to strip USD now would result in country heads getting magically arrested or assassinated overnight (cough Pakistan cough).

The US knows it can't keep up the control for long, yet their solution is to essentially pretend China will never catch up.

that's never stopped us before and the proof is in the pudding with vietnam, iraq & afghanistan.