Jim O'Neill - the chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management who coined the acronym "BRIC" for the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China 11 years ago - said that he supports India's proposal for the BRICS countries to create a joint development bank.

Discussions on the BRICS bank, a multilateral bank that would be exclusively funded by developing nations and finance projects in those countries, were high on the agenda at the two-day BRICS summit, which opened in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"Obviously (the BRICS bank) would be helpful for further supporting and promoting trade between emerging countries," O'Neill told China Daily in an exclusive interview.