China is hosting the 14th Summit of the BRICS countries in Beijing today. It's meant to produce a layout for 'a new era of global development,' but it will mostly be focused on two items: Russia's war in Ukraine and the ongoing pandemic.

BRICS is an acronym for the five major emerging global economies: namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The five countries are home to 3.2 billion people, that's 40 percent of the population globally. Their economies account for almost a quarter of the world's GDP.

Opening the meeting, China's Xi Jinping had this to say:
"Human history, like a river, will keep moving forward, with moments of both calm waters and huge waves. Despite changes in an evolving global environment, the historical trend of openness and development will not reverse course, and our shared desire to meet challenges together through cooperation will remain as strong as ever."