Since leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) issued a 16-point joint statement at the first BRIC summit in Russia on June 16 last year, the grouping has drawn widespread public attention. As the second summit of the BRIC countries opens in Brazil on Friday, the public is set to pay more attention to it.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd R) poses for a group photo together with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (1st L), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (2nd L), and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the first formal meeting of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) leaders in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009. [Xinhua]

The outlook for the upcoming summit and the future of the grouping is bright.

In the first BRIC summit, the leaders of the four countries spoke on several pressing issues related to the global economy and development. They also expressed the common wish to enhance cooperation among their countries. Some of the appeals in their joint statement were strategic, such as establishing a more democratic and just multi-polar world based on international law, equal cooperation, mutual respect and collective decision-making. They also pledged to promote the reform of international financial institutions. All these should be fulfilled in a gradual process and accepted by more countries.

Some of the appeals in the statement were realistic and concrete and have already yielded results.

First, the statement was straight to the point - that leaders in the G20 summit of developing nations "played a central role" in coping with the global financial crisis and were conducive to promoting cooperation and policy coordination as well as political dialogue among different countries in the international, economic and financial fields. The statement appealed to all countries and relevant international organizations to implement the consensus of the G20 London Summit. It also expressed the BRIC countries will cooperate with other partners to guarantee the collective action of the G20 Pittsburg Summit. It seems that this goal is being achieved.

Strictly speaking, the G20 bloc is more like an extension of the "8+5" platform of the G8 grouping rather than a replacement of the latter. The difference is the "8+5" platform is absolutely dominated by the eight developed countries, while the G20 is basically a dialogue platform for developed and developing countries. In the G20, the influence of developing countries has increased significantly and developed countries are unable to fully manipulate the bloc.

Before and during the process of their summit, the BRIC countries have produced their own voices, coordinated positions and enhanced cooperation. These moves have played a remarkable role in protecting the overall interests of developing countries. It is conceivable that the BRIC summit this time will have greater influence on the fourth summit of the G20 bloc scheduled in June.