Xiamen counts down to BRICS Summit

Chen Yuqing, 63, observed the changes in her home city.

"I go to Bailuzhou Park every day. The lake view under the neon light is especially fascinating," she said. "I am proud of being a Xiamen resident and hope I can do more to make the city more beautiful."

"The city has taken on a new look since the renovation work. It is comfortable driving on the new roads," said local resident Lin Huaming.

Work for the upcoming summit has been carried out with high standards and at low cost to eliminate waste. To save on costs, the city government has used recycled materials to build the convention center and will rent or borrow one-off equipment for the summit. Some of the facilities at the convention center can be disassembled for future use on other occasions.

For Xiamen, which was established as one of China's earliest special economic zones in the early 1980s, the BRICS Summit is a golden opportunity for the world to rediscover the city's glory.

"Our GDP grew by 8.1 percent in the first quarter, 0.2 percentage higher than the same period last year.

Benefiting from the summit, the total number of tourists to Xiamen is expected to exceed 70 million this year.

"Xiamen's image and reputation will definitely be improved through the summit," said Pei Jinjia, Xiamen's party secretary at a BRICS Summit press briefing marking the 100-day countdown to the event in May.