Full coverage: G20 Hangzhou Summit

The word BRICS is made from the initials of the five major 'emerging economies'... Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They are all leading developing countries among the G20 members.

The five nations account for more than a quarter of the earth’s land surface, nearly half of the world’s population, and nearly a third of the world’s GDP. 

Brazil's resources include massive amounts of oil and agricultural products.

The same can be said for Russia, with oil, coal and natural gas being pillar economic sectors.

And India continues to be one of the world's major iron producers.

Its neighbor China, the world’s largest exporter, currently has potential to be a global leader in hydropower. And finally South Africa, the African continent's largest energy producer and consumer. 

The BRICS countries have been seen as an engine of world economic growth. The sluggish global economic recovery has added uncertainty to the recent poorer performance of the BRICS countries.

But many believe that they have three major advantages in future development compared to developed economies: population, resources, and the market.

That means having a sufficient labor supply, abundant natural resources, and vast consumption potential. These advantages have been and will continue to be driving forces supporting BRICS growth.

Emerging markets are broadly defined as nations in the process of rapid growth and industrialization.

They typically have higher growth prospects, but a greater risk profile, than developed nations.

According to the Boao forum for Asia, eleven G20 nations are emerging market economies

For years, emerging markets have enjoyed stronger growth rates than advanced economies and today account for more than 50 percent of global economic growth

From 2008 to 2010, when the world's most advanced economies fell into recession or stagnation, emerging and developing economies managed to sustain an average annual growth rate of more than 5 percent.

In 2010, the growth rate reached over 7 percent.

But then growth began to slow. In 2015, it fell to 4 percent.

In August, Moody's RAISED its short term outlook for G20 emerging market economies. According to a Moody's report, the group's average GDP will grow by 4.4 percent this year and by 5 percent in 2017.