BRICS

BRICS is the title of an association of emerging economies, arising out of the inclusion of South Africa into the original BRIC grouping in 2010. The group's five members are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. With the possible exception of Russia, the BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs. As of 2012, the five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people.

Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China, has described the BRICS countries as defenders and promoters of developing countries and a force for world peace. However, some analysts have highlighted potential divisions and weaknesses in the grouping, such as India and China's disagreements over territorial issues, the failure of the BRICS to establish a World Bank-analogue development agency, slowing growth rates, and disputes between the members over UN Security Council reform.  The foreign ministers of the initial four BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) met in New York City in September 2006, beginning a series of high-level meetings. A full-scale diplomatic meeting was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on May 16, 2008. In 2010, South Africa began efforts to join the BRIC grouping, and the process for its formal admission began in August of that year. South Africa officially became a member nation on December 24, 2010, after being formally invited by the BRIC countries to join the group. The group was renamed BRICS – with the "S" standing for South Africa – to reflect the group's expanded membership. In April 2011, South African President Jacob Zuma attended the 2011 BRICS summit in Sanya, China, as a full member. The BRICS Forum, an independent international organisation encouraging commercial, political and cultural cooperation between the BRICS nations, was formed in 2011. In June 2012, the BRICS nations pledged $75 billion to boost the International Monetary Fund's lending power. However, this loan is conditional on IMF voting reforms.

The grouping has held annual summits since 2009, with member countries taking turns to host. Prior to South Africa's admission, two BRIC summits were held, in 2009 and 2010. The first five-member BRICS summit was held in 2011. The most recent summit took place in New Delhi, India, on March 29, 2012. The next BRICS summit is scheduled to take place in Durban,  South Africa, in March 2013.

Summit	Participants	Date	Host country	Host leader	Location
1st	BRIC	June 16, 2009	Russia	Dmitry Medvedev	Yekaterinburg
2nd	BRIC	April 16, 2010	Brazil	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	Brasília
3rd	BRICS	April 14, 2011	China	Hu Jintao	Sanya
4th	BRICS	March 29, 2012	India	Manmohan Singh	New Delhi
5th	BRICS	March 26–27, 2013	South Africa	Jacob Zuma	Durban