Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday called on BRICS members to seek ways to promote the grouping's cooperation to a new level, saying cooperation among them now "stands at a new starting point."

Speaking at the plenary session of the fourth summit of BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the Chinese leader explained China's position on global governance, sustainable development and BRICS cooperation.

"The BRICS countries are an integral part of the big family of emerging markets, and developing countries, and we are forces for world peace and common development," he said.

"This is an important historical period," he said, adding "many emerging markets and developing countries have seized the opportunity to accelerate development."

"They have not only changed the lives of over 3 billion people, but also become an increasingly important force for South-South and North-South cooperation," he noted.

Hu also said "the growth of developing countries will raise the overall productivity of the human society, and help to make the global economy more balanced, international relations more reasonable, global governance more effective and world peace more durable."

The president put forward a four-point proposal on BRICS cooperation, saying he was convinced that with further improvement of its mechanism, BRICS cooperation will produce more fruitful results.

"This will not only help enhance the well-being of our people, but also contribute to world peace, stability and prosperity," he said.

The Chinese president also said China has made well-recognized achievements in development since the adoption of the policy of reform and opening up more than 30 years ago.

"China's rapid growth has not only enabled the 1.3 billion Chinese people to lead a better life, but also offered development opportunities for other countries," he said.

No matter how the international situation may evolve, China will always hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation and remain committed to the path of peaceful development and the win-win strategy of opening-up, Hu said.

While pursuing its own development, China will work for common development of the whole world, firmly support BRICS cooperation and always stand together with developing countries, he added.

The summit comes at a crucial moment for the bloc, as the global economic recovery is still struggling against fragile financial systems, high public and private debt, high unemployment and the rising price of oil. Pressing issues, such as climate change, food security and energy security are also posing challenges to the world.

With the theme of "BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity," the BRICS leaders are expected to discuss "political, economic and social issues of mutual and international interest," according to the summit host India.

The creation of an investment bank, or "BRICS Bank," the grouping's first institution, was also on the agenda. The summit concluded with a Delhi Declaration on major world and regional issues.

BRIC initially grouped Brazil, Russia, India and China, but was enlarged last year to include South Africa and renamed as BRICS. The first BRIC summit was held in 2009.

With roughly 42 percent of the world's population, BRICS has a combined nominal GDP of 13.6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2011, or 20 percent of the world's total, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund.

The bloc aims to expand their inter-trade from 230 billion dollars last year to 500 billion dollars by 2015.