China says it wants to expand BRICS bloc of emerging economies

China wants to expand the group of emerging economies known as BRICS, in the first shake up of the bloc in over a decade, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.

Brazil, Russia, India and China initially formed the bloc in 2009, with South Africa joining in 2010.

“China proposes to start the BRICS expansion process, explore the criteria and procedures for the expansion, and gradually form a consensus,” Wang Yi, China’s state councillor and foreign minister, told an online meeting of BRICS foreign ministers.