To this end, China, as the holder of the BRICS presidency this year, has hosted a series of meetings to drum up support for the Xiamen summit.
Early last month, trade ministers met in Shanghai and agreed to unite against protectionism and safeguard the multilateral trade system. Days before that, a BRICS security meeting was held in Beijing, with discussions on global governance, anti-terrorism, the internet, energy, national security and development.
In June, finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to strengthen cooperation in several fiscal and financial areas, including the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and regulatory collaboration.
Shen Yi, director of the center for BRICS studies at Fudan University, said, "I think this year's summit in Xiamen will produce more practical and concrete cooperation, and improve trust and confidence among the BRICS countries."
Over the years, the five participating countries have improved macroeconomic policy coordination, promoted structural reform, infrastructure and taxation cooperation, and pushed forward new progress in fiscal and financial domains.
The grouping, which is based neither on ideology nor geopolitics, is seen as a new and perhaps better form of global governance in which emerging markets play key roles.
But the bloc does not want to limit future cooperation to the five nations.
In March, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China would explore options for expansion to a "BRICS plus" and build a wider partnership through dialogue with developing countries and international organizations.
Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank, said "BRICS plus" would provide opportunities for other economies and inject impetus into economic globalization.
"The proposals of Wang Yi regarding the expansion of the BRICS partnership zone are not only timely in light of China's presidency of BRICS, but they are also aimed at giving new impetus to integration processes under the complicated conditions of protectionism's spread in the world economy," Lissovolik said.
To help finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, China co-founded the NDB in 2014 with its headquarters in Shanghai.
The bank became fully operational last year and approved loans involving financial assistance of more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars for projects in green and renewable energy, and transport.
Meanwhile, the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013 to better connect countries along and beyond the ancient Silk Road, will also inject new vitality to BRICS cooperation.
Named after the historic Silk Road, the Belt and Road Initiative is an example of China sharing its solutions for global growth and governance by linking countries and regions that account for about 60 percent of the world's population and 30 percent of its GDP.
Sixty-eight countries and international organizations have signed agreements with China on Belt and Road cooperation. Total trade between China and other Belt and Road countries exceeded 3 trillion U.S. dollars between 2014 and 2016, and Chinese investment in these countries exceeded 50 billion U.S. dollars.
The initiative has been applauded by BRICS countries. With such inclusive platforms as the Belt and Road and the NDB, the Xiamen summit looks likely to add yet more glitter to the BRICS of gold and prepare the five nations for another successful decade to come.
