If the past two Brics summits are any guide, Wednesday’s five-nation meeting on the Chinese resort island of Hainan will serve up a few platitudes on global governance and sustainable development and leave anything of substance to one side.

The Brics nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and now South Africa – have little in common beyond size and growth. They are increasingly fighting for a share of the same markets – often each other’s. What was once a sense of unity in a common “south-south” cause has been replaced by increasingly uneasy bilateral tensions.

For China, the meeting is another chance to underscore its status – more as an out and out global leader than as a representative of the emerging world. Its towering presence in global trade – it is now the largest exporter of manufactured goods in the world – is a cause of rising friction with its Brics partners. China has made it clear that one issue of huge concern to the others – the value of its currency – is definitely not on the agenda.