Indian Prime Minister Arrives in Sanya for BRICS Leaders Meeting

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seen on the plane at the airport in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, April 12, 2011. Manmohan Singh arrived Tuesday evening in Sanya to attend the BRICS Leaders Meeting scheduled on Thursday. [Xinhua]

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived Tuesday evening in Sanya City of south China's Hainan Province to attend the BRICS Leaders Meeting scheduled on Thursday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet Singh on the sidelines of the Leaders Meeting to exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.

It will be the first meeting between senior leaders of the two countries this year. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India in December and held talks with Singh.

China is now India's top trade partner. Bilateral trade jumped 42.4 percent year on year to 61.76 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.

The two countries will hold a series of activities this year to celebrate the "Year of China-India Exchange."

BRICS is a group acronym that refers to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The five countries' population made up 40 percent of the world's total and their combined gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for 18 percent of the global GDP in 2010, according to Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Hailong.

The April 14 meeting, under the theme of "Broad Vision, Shared Prosperity", will be the first meeting for the five leaders after South Africa being invited to join the organization. The leaders of the four other countries held their first meeting in Russia in 2009 and the second in Brazil in 2010.

As the host of this year's meeting, China hopes to further enhance the expansion of bilateral links among the BRICS countries through the meeting, Wu said at an earlier press briefing.

During the BRICS Leaders Meeting, President Hu will also hold bilateral meetings with the other leaders to discuss bilateral ties and international and regional issues of common concern, according to Wu.

On Monday morning, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff arrived in Beijing for a state visit to China. She will also attend Thursday's BRICS Leaders Meeting.

Prior to her trip to China, the Brazilian President said that the BRICS group of emerging powers had made, was making, and would continue to make a great contribution to the world.

The BRICS had the vision that a new economic order was important, especially one that did not deny the reality of the emergence of countries that had altered the face and profile of the world both economically and politically, she said.