With the summit taking place after Britain’s vote in June to exit the European Union and before the US presidential election in November, G20 leaders had been expected to mount a defence of free trade and globalisation and warn against isolationism. The joint statement reflects that ambition by calling the G-20 the “premier forum” for economic cooperation.
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Japan has longstanding territorial disputes of its own with China but Xi’s tone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was warmer than previously.
He said Pakistan has become a visible negative factor in India-China relations. He said the G20 will help less-developed countries, including those in Africa, with industrialization as well as green energy and finance to bridge the gaps in global development. The International Monetary Fund has cut its outlook for global economic growth to 3.1 percent.
“We agree with the G20’s analysis that the benefits of trade and open markets must be communicated to the wider public more effectively”, said John Danilovich, Secretary General of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce. Britain is wrestling with the effects of its June vote to leave the EU.
The meeting got off to a rocky start Saturday when there was no staircase at the airport for President Barack Obama to exit his plane.
But furious speculation claiming it was a deliberate snub by China, fuelled in part by a tarmac stand-off between travel press and a Chinese agent, seems to have been misplaced, as U.S. sources told AFP the incident came about because Washington refused to use a Chinese staircase in favour of the plane’s built-in steps.
It was the 11th summit since the inception of G20 in 1999.The summit was attended by all the leaders of the G20 including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Overwhelming security characterized the gathering throughout, with Hangzhou, a city of 2.5 million, brought to a standstill to facilitate the event.
North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday, South Korea said, in a show of force that collided with the summit and comes a fortnight after it test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
HANGZHOU, China-U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met Monday after talks between their senior officials to reduce violence in Syria ended without an agreement.
China has warned Seoul against installing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, system.
The Hangzhou summit has come at a time when the world economy is plagued by problems, short and long term, such as poor growth momentum, changing demographics, rising trade protectionism and low investment, Xi said.
While Seoul and Washington say the system is intended exclusively to defend against North Korea’s missile threat, Beijing says it will allow the US military to peer deeply into northeastern China.
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New British Prime Minister Theresa May spent much of the summit discussing Britain’s European Union exit, which will force the country to define anew its trading relationships with Europe, the US and other partners.
