China has revealed its desire to have Turkey included in the BRICS group of leading emerging economies more than a week after the bloc expanded by accepting six new members.

Liu Shaobin said in a meeting with journalists in Ankara on Friday that China “wants Turkey to join the BRICS group”, adding that Beijing and Ankara will be together on path to economic growth, according to a report by Turkish newspaper Aydinlik.

Shaobin said a decision last month by BRICS to accept Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as new members was “an expected historic beginning on the international scene.”

The remarks come just days ahead of a planned visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Russia where he will meet President Vladimir Putin.

Russia will host next year’s BRICS summit in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan republic, an area with a sizable Turkic population which is responsible for 25% of Turkish investment in Russia.

Political sources believe Erdogan and Putin will discuss Ankara’s access to BRICS in their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi of Monday.

Others have pointed to Turkey’s efforts to find new sources of investment capital as the country seeks to compensate economic losses suffered in recent years because of the coronavirus pandemic. They say Turkey’s access to the BRICS New Development Bank would free up that potential.

Turkey’s membership in BRICS could also boost its trade revenues as the country is already a major trade partner for original BRICS members China and Russia as well as for new entrants like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group decided on August 25 during a summit in South Africa to officially accept the six new members as of early 2024.