Global economic growth, governance, and the eradication of impasses in international politics were some of the main topics tabled at Friday’s G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan.
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The G20 members broadly agreed on the need to accelerate stalled World Trade Organization’s reforms in Friday’s session on global growth and trade, a Japanese government official told reporters.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged his counterparts to take responsibility for the world’s economy and steer clear of the the almost imminent financial crisis, which many professionals say could rival 2008’s economic crash.
Xi recommended the G20 focus on long-term development, lasting peace and prosperity and urged members to discuss shared interests and forge stronger bilateral relations.
The president said, "We need to vigorously push for structural reform and strive to achieve high quality growth through developing the digital economy, promoting connectivity, improving social security and other measures.
"We must strengthen the multilateral trading system and carry out the necessary reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to make it more effective in the implementation of its principles of market opening and promotion of development," Xi said.
He noted that the founding principles for global growth were equality, trust, and mutual respect for the differences and valuable assets each member offers.
He urged the G20 to implement the Paris Agreement against climate change, and improve governance in energy, environment and digital arenas.
Addressing the heads of state present at the gathering, the Chinese president encouraged the G20 to actively confront the challenges and eliminate the bottlenecks of development.
"China's initiative to jointly build the Strip and the Route seeks to mobilize more resources, strengthen connectivity, unleash the driving force for growth, achieve market alignment and incorporate more countries and regions into economic globalization."
A trade talk meeting is scheduled Saturday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the meeting.
For its part, China vowed to dedicate greater effort to boost business talks, demonstrate fair treatment for all foreign investments and implement measures to improve business environment, expand imports and open the Chinese market, Xi said.