The third summit meeting of BRICS countries is due to be held at China's resort city of Sanya later this week.

South Africa will join Brazil, Russia, India and China at this year's summit, where the participating leaders are expected to exchange ideas on economic and financial issues.

The continuing rise of developing nations, such as those of the newly enlarged BRICS, marks a significant change in the global economic and political landscapes and will have a far-reaching influence on world development.

Under the West-dominated international political and economic system, global wealth and power have been unevenly distributed between developed and developing countries for a long time. However, some subtle changes have occurred over the past two decades, especially since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008.

The US economy seems to be on the road to recovery, but the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy is still around 8.5 percent and its financial deficit remains high. European countries are struggling to grapple with a lingering sovereign debt crisis and Japan, which has failed to completely extricate itself from its decades-long economic stagnation, must recover from the recent earthquake and tsunami.

In sharp contrast, developing countries have overcome the impact of the global financial crisis and managed to achieve robust economic growth momentum. According to an estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), economic growth in emerging countries reached 7.1 percent in 2010 and is expected to be 6.4 percent in 2011.

That the global economy has managed to avoid a widespread recession like the one in the 1920s and 1930s should be partly attributed to macroeconomic policy coordination among world members and their concerted efforts to resist protectionism. The robust growth momentum from some emerging markets has also played a very important role in pulling the global economy out of what would otherwise have been a deep slump.

Due to the rise of some emerging economies, global wealth is developing in a more balanced direction. Two decades ago, the G7 industrialized countries accounted for more than 70 percent of the world's economic output, but now they account for 50 percent. Compared with the decline in the economic clout of developed nations, developing countries are enjoying a growing proportion of the world's economy.

The most important influence that emerging countries like the BRICS nations have on world politics is their participation in global efforts for good governance.