On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou on Sept 4-5, President Xi Jinping will host an informal meeting of his counterparts from Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa, or a BRICS meeting. Since all BRICS nations are members of the G20, their leaders, or representatives, have been sharing notes and coordinating their policies and strategies at various global forums, including the G20 Summits.

But the BRICS meeting in Hangzhou will be special for several reasons.

First, the meeting will give BRICS leaders a chance to discuss their major decisions and fine-tune them before announcing them at the 8th BRICS summit in mid-October in Goa in western India. About 900 delegates are expected to attend it, including 300 from China.