President Hu Jintao will set off for Russia on Sunday for the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and the first official meeting of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China, a group of rapidly emerging economies called BRIC.

The SCO summit will start next Monday in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Li Hui told a press conference yesterday, with the BRIC summit following next Tuesday. In addition to the summits, he will pay a state visit to Russia and attend celebrations for the 60th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic relations, Li said.

The SCO, a regional organization founded in 2001 in Shanghai, includes China, Russia and the central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Leaders from Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran and India, four observers of the organization, as well as the leader of Afghanistan, will take part in the upcoming SCO meeting, Li said.

The leaders are expected to discuss various issues including the financial crisis and issues concerning regional security, such as separatist activities, terrorism, arms smuggling¹ and drug trafficking.

Members of the SCO hope to reach a consensus² on jointly³ countering the financial crisis at the summit, Gao Yusheng, deputy secretary-general of the SCO, told China Daily yesterday.

The leaders are also expected to sign a convention on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism and an agreement on political and diplomatic mechanisms⁴ against regional security threats.

As for Hu's state visit to Russia, his first trip to the neighbor since Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took office in May last year, Li said a series of documents on economic, trade and energy cooperation between China and Russia will be signed.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said in May that Moscow is to sign a massive gas supply deal with Beijing during Hu's visit.

Russia had been well prepared for the deal, he said recently, adding Moscow would provide as much as Beijing needs.

BRIC nations account for 42 percent of the world's population and enjoyed an average annual economic growth of 10.7 percent from 2006 to 2008. According to Goldman Sachs, the four nations have contributed one-third of the world's growth since 2000.

"Exchanging views among the BRIC leaders will strengthen cooperation and tone up the influence of the emerging markets and developing countries and push for multilateralism," he said.

At the time of a lingering global financial crisis, such a summit not only benefits the four nations but also helps revive the world economy, he said.

Emerging nations, led by Brazil, Russia, India and China, want to increase their representation at the IMF, aiming for an agreement on reforms by January 2011.

Goldman Sachs Chief Economist⁵ Jim O'Neill, who invented the term BRIC in 2001, told Reuters yesterday that the four BRIC countries combined could dwarf⁶ the G7 in less than 20 years, around 10 years earlier than he had predicted before, due to the financial crisis.

Questions:

1. In which country will the first official meeting of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China take place?

2. What are the two key items on the agenda for the SCO meeting?

3. What big business deal is expected to be signed by Russia and China?

Answers:

1. Russia.

2. Working towards combating the financial crisis and also towards solving security issues.

3. Gas supply deal.