The man who coined the term' BRIC' told CNBC Thursday that investing in China remains a solid bet, particularly if it takes definitive steps to spur consumer spending.

“They need to raise wages, which I think they are deliberately doing, give greater rights to migrants workers and develop a social security system,” said Jim O’Neill, chairman asset management at Goldman Sachs

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[GS  Loading...      ()   ]. O’Neill had identified the BRIC nations—Brazil, Russia, India and China—as an emerging and major economic force in a 2001 paper.

"They [the Chinese] have got to consume, and that’s the big story. The growth in consumer market in China over the next few years is [going to be] huge,” added O’Neill.

He also said the economic impact of the “next 11 countries” is large as well. According to a McKinsey report that O'Neill referenced the level of consumption of top 20 emerging countries, which include the BRIC nations as well as Turkey, Mexico, Korea and Indonesia, is now at $7 trillion and, by end of the decade, it could be at $30 billion.

“That’s a $13 trillion increase,” he added. “That’s bigger than the US, and the core of it is China.”

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Disclosures:

Disclosure information was not available for Jim O'Neil or Goldman Sachs.

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