BEIJING, January 11. /TASS/. The Chinese authorities fully support the idea of holding a BRICS summit under Russia’s presidency this year and are ready to cooperate with Russia to strengthen the grouping’s global posture, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

"China fully supports the Russian Federation as this year’s BRICS chair in successfully holding a BRICS summit and is ready to work with Russia to bolster the international influence of the grouping," Wang told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a telephone conversation.

Beijing seeks to propel multilateral cooperation at BRICS to a higher quality level, China's top diplomat specified.

The BRICS group, established in 2006, first expanded in 2011, when South Africa joined the four founding nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Five new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) formally became full-fledged members of the BRICS group on January 1. Russia assumed BRICS’ one-year rotating chairmanship on the same day.