金砖国家首脑会议成果回顾

The world's most powerful emerging economies are gathering once again for their yearly summit to discuss the most pressing global issues. As they prepare to meet in the Russian city of Ufa. We look back on some of the achievements of past summits, particularly their effort to strengthen their economic cooperation.

Five countries united by a common purpose. It all started fourteen years ago when Jim O’Neill, the former chief economist for Goldman Sachs, first coined the term BRIC.

In late 2010, an "S" was added to the acronym... when South Africa joined the group.

A year later, China hosted a summit in its southern city of Sanya. It was there that the five countries outlined the parameters for future economic cooperation, in a paper known as the Sanya Declaration.

The 2013 summit in South Africa saw the creation of the BRICS Business Council to ensure that there is regular dialogue between the business communities of the five nations.

The following year, leaders sealed another landmark agreement -- the creation of the BRICS Development Bank.

With an initial capital of 50 billion dollars, one of the bank's goals is to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries.

"We should push forward our cooperation, establish the contingency reserve arrangement as soon as possible, and make sure that the BRICS business council plays an active role," Chinese President Xi Jinping said.

BRICS countries represent about 40 percent of the world’s population and around a fifth of global GDP. In the last decade, their combined GDP grew more than 300 percent.

And with ties between the five countries growing ever closer, the world awaits with bated breath to see what this year's summit will accomplish.