The announced expansion of the five-nation Brics club of emerging economies was described as "historic" by Chinese President Xi Jinping, but it is still not clear how far the countries' common interests stretch.

The growth of Brics "will… further strengthen the force for world peace and development" the president said while addressing the leaders gathered at a conference centre in South Africa's commercial hub, Johannesburg.

The Brics countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are often seen as a counterweight to the Western-led world.

The six new countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - are set to join in January.

China was the state pushing hardest for group expansion as a way to counter Western dominance.

Steve Tsang, director of London's Soas China Institute, says though the Brics members do not have much in common on the surface, President Xi was trying to show his fellow bloc members that they all want a similar future: none of them want to live in a Western-dominated world.

 

"What the Chinese are offering is an alternative world order for which autocrats can feel safe and secure in their own countries," says Prof Tsang.

"They can find an alternative direction of development without having to accept the conditionalities imposed by the democratic Americans and European powers."

 

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"The six new countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - are set to join in January."