Source: China.org.cn Published: 2015-11-18
The G20 is a main forum for global economic and financial cooperation that brings together the world`s major advanced and emerging economies, which represent around 85 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of world trade, and two-thirds of the world population.
The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. The members included 19 individual countries along with theEuropean Union.
In 2008, the first G20 summit was held in Washington, D.C., in the United States, and the group played a key role in the response to the global financial crisis.
The G20 presidency rotates annually among its members. To ensure continuity, the presidency is supported by a "troika" made up of the current, immediate past and next host countries. In 2015, the members of the "troika" are Turkey, Australia and China.
Last year`s G20 summit was held in Brisbane, Australia.
Also on Monday, the second day of the Antalya summit, Xi shared his views on the reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and anti-corruption.
He expressed appreciation over the IMF`s suggestion in a recent review report on the inclusion of the Chinese currency into its Special Drawing Rights basket.
On anti-corruption, Xi pledged "zero-tolerance" and called for international cooperation, saying China supports the G20 in stepping up collaboration on hunting fugitives and recovering illicit assets.
The two-day summit concluded Monday with the release of a leaders` communique and an anti-terror declaration.
After the summit, Xi left for Manila, thePhilippines, to attend the 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders` Meeting, which is scheduled for Nov. 18-19.
WORLD EXPECTATIONS
International experts have voiced their expectations and offered suggestions on China`s hosting of the G20 summit.
"It will be a success and we have some reasons to believe in that," said Yuksel Gormez, a senior economist with the Central Bank of Turkey.
"Remember the APEC meeting in Beijing last year? The organizational capacity of China is very strong. Next year, every single G20-related meeting will be a great meeting," he said.
Gormez noted that China is expected to discuss many issues with the world, such as green growth, sustainable development and creating a more efficient trading mechanism.
John Kirton, a political science professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs with the University of Toronto, proposed that the G20 and China send out a strong signal of confidence to show that the G20 knows how to get economy back on track.
He argued that since the last G20 summit baseline growth has been lower than expected, and the world has seen incomplete implementation of the promises made under the Brisbane action plan.
At the Brisbane summit, G20 leaders agreed to put policies in place that would raise their collective GDP by an additional 2 percent by 2018.
The world needs to have confidence in a G20 that is willing and able to get growth back on track, he said, adding that the G20 cannot acquire confidence without China doing the same.
Actually, Xi has already shown the world China`s confidence while addressing the summit on Sunday.
In the next five years, China will adhere to a path of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and will encourage a system that nurtures innovation, he said.
The president said the Chinese economy is predicted to grow about 7 percent this year, which will continue to contribute about one third of global growth.
"China has the confidence and capability to maintain medium-high growth," Xi told world leaders.
Guven Sak, chairman of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, an Ankara-based think tank, said that Turkey is trying to make the G20 summit this year more inclusive and aims to make it a bridge for the G20 and other countries, but it is just a beginning.
He suggested China continue on this track and make the G20 a more inclusive place for non-G20 countries.
Tristram Sainsbury, a research fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy, hailed the Chinese presidency as one of the "most highly anticipated" years in the G20`s short history as a high-level forum.
He suggested that China be ambitious but realistic, and focus on a few specific and pragmatic goals.
"The hope is that China can leave a positive legacy that reverberates for years to come," he added.
Key Words: G20; China; Hangzhou