The BRICS countries leaders (L-R) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma meet the press during the BRICS Leaders Meeting in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, April 14, 2011. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi/chinadaily.com.cn]

SANYA, Hainan - Leaders from five of the world's largest emerging economies meet in South China's resort city of Sanya Thursday morning for a summit to coordinate stance on major economic and international issues.

The leaders -- Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma -- started a closed-door meeting after a group photo was taken.

The meeting, chaired by President Hu, is expected to strengthen coordination and mutual cooperation among BRICS members on reform of the international currency system, commodity price fluctuations, climate change and sustainable development.

Special Coverage:  BRICS Summit 2011

Following their talks, the leaders will jointly meet the press and issue a statement indicating their consensus on the key topics.

The term of BRIC was first coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neil in 2001 to group four fast-growing economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The countries now seek to use the idea to forge a platform for communication and cooperation. In 2009, Russia hosted the first summit of BRIC state leaders and the second such gathering took place in Brazil last year.

South Africa was invited to join the grouping in late 2010.

The five countries' population made up 42 percent of the world's total and their combined gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for 18 percent of the global GDP in 2010. Their trade volume took up 15 percent of the world's total last year.

The BRICS countries leaders (L-R) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma meet the press during the BRICS Leaders Meeting in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, April 14, 2011. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi/chinadaily.com.cn]