South Africa is aggressively pushing to join the "BRIC" group of nations, its Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said yesterday in Beijing.

BRIC refers to the fast-growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The visiting minister, who gave a speech entitled "South Africa and South-South Cooperation", was in Beijing yesterday before departing to Shanghai, the last stop of her four-day visit to China.

"If you want to build houses, you need more than one BRIC," Nkoana-Mashabane said, adding South Africa could add momentum to the BRIC group.

"The BRIC is not a negotiating group, but a convergence group of four large countries of great importance and with increasing participation in several aspects of international relations", as defined by Roberto Jaguaribe, assistant secretary-general for political affairs Brazil's foreign ministry.

"As a representative for emerging economies, BRIC nations should include participation by African countries," said Professor Yang Lihua, an expert in African affairs with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"South Africa is the strongest economy in Africa. Its influence on the African market is irreplaceable by any other African countries," Yang said, which is also why the country seeks membership with the BRIC.

South Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa, leading the continent in industrial output and mineral production while also generating a large proportion of Africa's electricity. The country's annual economic growth rate has averaged over 4 percent since 1994.

South Africa's government said Wednesday that it has asked to join the so-called BRIC group of nations to give it more influence in international trade negotiations, Bloomberg reported.

Nkoana-Mashabane is looking forward to an informal meeting on Tuesday before the second BRIC summit, which is to be held in Brasilia, capital of Brazil, on April 16. South Africa will meet with the heads of states from Brazil and India, as reported earlier by Reuters.