BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The fifth BRICS summit has opened in Durban, South Africa. This is the first time the meeting has been held on the African continent.

Heads of state from Brazil, , India, China and South Africa have attended the opening ceremony of the five-nation BRICS summit for emerging market powers. Organizers have also invited the leaders of the and 15 African heads of state and government to participate.

The theme of the two-day summit is, "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Integration and Industrialization".

The chairs from all of Africa’s economic blocs as well as the head of the New Partnership for African Development program will participate in the BRICS Leaders-Africa Dialogue Forum on Wednesday under the auspices of the African Union. They will join presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, of China, Vladmir of Russia, Dilma Roussef of Brazil, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.

The BRICS leaders are expected to endorse an agreement made earlier by their finance ministers to establish a BRICS development bank, which will finance infrastructure

development within the five emerging economies.

(Source: CNTV.cn)