In a circular conference hall in Hangzhou – the scenic eastern city left deserted by a vast security operation – Xi told them the G20 “should work with real action with no empty talk”.
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A day before the Summit, business leaders from the 20 economies submitted policy recommendations to the G20 leaders.
“China provides a rolling staircase for every arriving state leader, but the USA side complained that the driver doesn’t speak English and can’t understand security instructions from the United States; so China proposed that we could provide a translator to sit beside the driver, but the USA side turned down the proposal and insisted that they didn’t need a staircase provided by the airport”, an unnamed Chinese foreign ministry official told the South China Morning Post.
Xi welcomed Group of 20 presidents and prime ministers with a handshake, and an extended clasp with Barack Obama, as both men smiled despite protocol stumbles around the United States leader’s visit. It has backed the issuance of bonds denominated in Special Drawing Rights in its home market; the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is broadening membership; and it has persuaded other G20 members to voice support for free trade, worldwide governance reform and non-competitive devaluation of currencies.
Chinese officials had organized an airport greeting for President Barack Obama on Saturday when he arrived for a Group of 20 meeting.
China was angered when Australia blocked the A$10 billion ($7.7 billion) sale of the country’s biggest energy grid to Chinese bidders last month. But the reference was clearly aimed at Islamabad-a close ally of China.
China is also under pressure on various economic and trade fronts, with European businesses complaining loudly about China’s worsening business environment, and Britain and Australia wary of Chinese steel imports. “So we give our proposal”, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba said.
He urged Beijing to uphold its legal obligations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, and stressed USA commitments to its regional allies.
With the world in town, Beijing is keen to avoid discussion about the South China Sea – where it has built artificial islands and facilities including airstrips on reefs and outcrops in disputed waters – that could cloud the proceedings.
The bout of scaremongering comes as Mrs May arrived in China early on Sunday morning for the G20 Summit, where she is expected to negotiate trade deals for Britain following our Leave vote.
Obama held talks with Xi on Saturday that ran late into the night.
Nevertheless, Obama took the tarmac incident in good rumour, noting that the travelling White House juggernaut can be intimidating for any nation.
Eight years ago when the world was ravaged by the 2008 financial crisis, G20 summit was launched for member cooperation on global economic and financial issues.
The president pointed out that this was not the first time there had been tension with the Chinese over security and news media access during his travels.
EU President Donald Tusk said Europe was “close to limits” on its ability to accept new waves of refugees and urged the broader global community to shoulder its share of the burden.
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“Sino-US relations are important to China, and there’s absolutely no logic in creating trouble or to downgrade the treatment for the USA president”, He Weiwen, a former economic counsellor at the Chinese consulates in San Francisco and NY, explained to the SCMP.
