BEIJING (AP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao will travel to Russia next week for the first summit of leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so-called BRIC group of rapidly developing economies, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

The meeting marks an important milestone for the BRIC nations that have been driving much of the growth among emerging economies. The countries have been demanding a bigger role in negotiations to create a new global financial order in a major challenge to the so-far unrivaled authority of the West and Japan.

Hu travels to Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Sunday for a five-day trip where he will attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and celebrate the 60th anniversary of China-Russia cooperation in addition to meeting the other BRIC heads of state for a one-day summit, Vice Minister Li Hui told a news conference.

"This trip will expand mutual trust, work toward solutions on how to tackle the financial crisis, and solidify economic ties among the BRIC nations," Li said, using the common term that is an acronym of the first letters of the four countries’ names.

Hu will also take part in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a loose alliance of Central Asian states dominated by Beijing and Moscow, he said.

The group, which includes the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, has served as a vehicle for Moscow and Beijing to limit Western influence in energy-rich Central Asia.

The two have also used the framework of the organization in recent years to incorporate joint anti-terrorism drills and border protection exercises.

Leaders from Afghanistan, Mongolia, Pakistan and India will take part as observers in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting.

Li said Hu will sign documents to seal economic, trade and cultural cooperation between China and Russia during his visit, although details of the agreements are still in the works.

China and Russia were bitter rivals in the communist camp during the Cold War, but ties have warmed considerably in recent years, partly from a mutual desire to counter U.S. influence in world affairs.

Beijing is also eager to secure access to Russia’s oil and gas deposits, and has been a major customer of Russian military hardware.

It will be Hu’s first trip to Russia since President Dmitri Medvedev took power in May last year. Medvedev has made one official trip to Beijing.

Following Russia, Hu travels to Slovakia and Croatia from June 18 to June 20