G20 sticks to its original aspiration

Cute robots dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos dance during the G20 Summit expo in Osaka, Japan, 27 June 2019.
Osaka hosted the G20 Summit on June 28 and 29, and welcomed leaders from 37 countries and international organizations. On February 4, just 150 days before this historical event, the Kansai Promotion Council for the 2019 G20 Osaka Summit and the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau co-sponsored the “G20 Osaka Summit Forum” in Osaka. The event attracted approximately 500 people from the local communities in Osaka.

World economy is picking up, but still faces weak growth momentum, increasing hindrances, and even the risk of derailment. Meanwhile, unilateralism, trade protectionism and hegemonic practices are sweeping the world, attacking the global economic order and reducing confidence in international trade and investment. Worried about the current global economic situation, the international community is looking forward to the 14th Group of 20 (G20) summit which is scheduled to kick off soon in Osaka, Japan. It is hoped that the summit could release positive signals, point a way out for development and boost confidence in global market. Such wishes are exactly the original aspiration that the mechanism held 11 years ago when the first G20 summit took place.

Back then, the outbreak of the international financial crisis casted a shadow over the globe, and countries worried that the world might fall into the same old trap of the Great Depression in the last century. At the critical moment, the early members of G20 joined hands with each other and acted in the spirit of unity and win-win partnership. They pulled the world economy back from precipice and pushed it back to the track of stability and growth through equal consultation and coordination. Since then, G20 has been regarded as a major platform for international economic cooperation, and thus ushered in a new chapter of global economic governance.

Today, when international landscape is going through complicated changes, it’s especially important for G20 to review its history and adhere to its original aspiration. It should champion right concepts. From highlighting international financial problems at the beginning, G20 has now expanded coverage to trade, innovation, health, sustainable development, and anti-corruption. The constantly enriched G20 agendas revealed the contagion of major international issues that no country is able to deal with them independently. Regarding this, major economies should live up to their responsibilities, stick to the spirit of multilateralism and stop misunderstanding and finger pointing. Besides, they should also respect others and leave no space for unilateralism or bullying practices, so that consultation on equal footing and win-win cooperation will become an eternal belief.

G20 should steer the world towards progress. At present, global economy is facing sluggish recovery, and the rising protectionism is also creating downward pressure for global economic growth. In the face of these challenges, we can’t simply blame others and expect that all problems can be resolved overnight. On the contrary, each country should keep the courage to carry out reforms and focus on high-quality development. Only by boosting growth through innovation can countries stop the old practice of “carving up” and avoid the mistakes of undermining global value chain and exacerbating fragmented governance.

G20 should keep being development-oriented. G20 is more effective than conventional coordination mechanisms among major countries because it serves as an important platform for equal-footed dialogues and consultations between major developed economies and developing countries. It should base its efforts on the goal of resolving the fundamental problems of imbalanced development, highlight development in the discussions of digital economy, infrastructure, climate change, energy and environment, and find solutions to developing countries’ deficiency of capital, capabilities, and governance in the above-mentioned areas, so as to avoid new development gap. As an important member of G20, China sticks to its original aspiration for cooperation and devotes itself to providing solutions to and facilitating global economic governance.

There were three clocks in the press center of the G20 London Summit in 2009, showing Beijing time, London time and Washington time respectively. It demonstrated that China, representing an open major developing country, is playing a vital role together with its partners. At the G20 Brisbane Summit in 2014, China submitted a growth strategy that included 134 measures. According to an estimate by international organization, China was among the greatest contributors to G20’s comprehensive growth strategies. The world will never forget that at the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit, China called on all relevant parties to join hands to build an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy, which pointed a new way for world economic cooperation and furthered G20’s transformation from crisis-management to long-term global governance. Ready to shoulder its responsibilities and benefit the whole world, China is constantly injecting new vitality into the progress of G20 with its own development and concrete actions. It’s believed that China will continue strengthen mutually-beneficial cooperation with each country and make new contribution to the growth of world economy.

Jing Yi, a Chinese expert of international affairs

(People’s Daily)