The third summit of BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is being held in the southern Chinese city of Sanya Thursday, focusing on the international situation, global economic and financial affairs, development issues and internal cooperation.

In order to better estimate how bright BRICS can really shine in the world arena, Xinhua conducted interviews with scholars from China, Brazil, France, South Africa, Argentina and Russia.

They talked about BRICS' significance, identity and possible future enlargement.

Significance of BRICS

Mariano Turzi, professor at Torcuato De Tella University in Buenos Aires, said close cooperation and dialogue among the BRICS nations would deepen South-South cooperation, change the game rules of international finance and trade, and give developing countries more rights to speak.

BRICS' rise would be difficult to reverse in 10 to 15 years, and it would restructure the global pattern of economy, trade and diplomacy, he said.

Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, director of the South African Institute of International Affairs, said the BRICS mechanism was the natural product of the sustainable rise of emerging economies, and the continuous expansion of trade and economic cooperation between them, adding BRICS was a bloc struggling for the interests of developing countries.

Ma Jiali, executive deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the China Reform Forum, said BRICS members at the summit would consult with each other on major international issues, seek common stances on international financial issues, climate change and sustainable development, and may express their common voices on some urgent problems ahead of the world community.

He said the summit would improve international circumstances for emerging economies, to some extent create a more healthy and beneficial international atmosphere, and display a fresh picture of emerging economies.

Humberto Siuves, an economist with the Brazilian Economic Institute of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said the BRICS mechanism had provided a platform for BRICS members to express their views, coordinate their stances and take joint action in forming the new international political and economic order.

Pier Carlo Padoan, chief economist of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said the BRICS mechanism was an important innovation. He expressed the hope the mechanism could boost collaboration between developing and developed countries and promote their joint efforts in achieving development.