CHINESE President Xi Jinping said yesterday that the Group of 20 (G20) should take a leadership role in major issues while addressing the opening of the Group of 20 summit that opened yesterday in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou.

    G20 should find a direction and a course for the world economy with a strategic vision, Xi said.

    To meet the demand of the world economy, G20 should shift from coping with crisis to long-term governance, he said.

    G20 should work with real actions and no empty talk, Xi said, calling for concrete actions to implement joint plans on sustainable development, green financing and anti-corruption, he said.

    G20 should seek the opinions of all parties and listen to the voices of developing countries to make the mechanism more inclusive, Xi said.

    Countries have the common aspiration of economic growth and development despite their different conditions, development status and challenges. Xi called on nations to strengthen partnership to get through the global economic hardships.

    The world economy is recovering but faces multiple risks and challenges such as insufficient growth momentum, lack of demand, repeated volatility in financial markets, and sluggish international trade and investment, Xi said.

    Eight years after the global financial crisis, the world economy is once again at a critical juncture. The growth momentum brought by the previous wave of technological progress is waning while the latest wave of technological and industrial revolution is yet to gather steam, Xi said.

    Population aging and slowing population growth also weigh on the economy and the societies of major economies. Economic globalization faces setbacks as protectionism rears its head and multilateral trade arrangements are being impacted.

    Despite substantial progress in financial regulatory reform, risks such as high leverage and froth are accumulating, Xi said.

    With the theme of “Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy,” the summit has put the issue of development front and center of the global macro policy framework for the first time.

    It is also the first time that the G20 has an action plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and carries out cooperation to support the industrialization of African countries and least developed countries.

    With two-thirds of the world’s population, G20 contributes about 90 percent of the world’s total GDP and 80 percent of the world’s trade volume.

    Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies with the Renmin University of China, took the summit as “a landmark event in the history of China’s diplomacy that reveals the growing influence and soft power of the country.”

    The event also brought the world a chance to understand China’s practices and innovations in pursuing sustainable development, said researcher Jia Jinjing, Wang’s colleague.(Xinhua)

    (Special reports on P7, 8)