PRESIDENT Xi Jinping arrived in Osaka, Japan, on Thursday afternoon for a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

    Later in the day, Xi met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The two leaders agreed to further elevate bilateral relations with win-win cooperation and together safeguard multilateralism, free trade and an open world economy.

    At the 14th G20 summit, slated for Friday and Saturday in Osaka, Xi will expound China’s views and stands on world economy and global economic governance.

    On the sidelines, the president is scheduled to attend a leaders’ meeting of the emerging-market group of BRICS, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

    He will also take part in a China-Russia-India leaders’ meeting and a China-Africa leaders’ meeting, and hold a series of bilateral meetings.

    Xi’s bilateral meetings also include one with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. The two leaders are expected to exchange views on fundamental issues concerning the development of China-U.S. relations.

    Xi said last week that Beijing and Washington should jointly play a leading role in pushing for positive outcomes at the summit, so as to inject confidence and vitality into the global market.

    According to the host Japan, priority topics to be discussed at the summit include the global economy, trade and investment as well as innovation, among others. However, many expect the talks to heavily focus on ways to ease the current global trade tensions and pave the way for sustainable growth.

    The global economy has been feeling the pain from the U.S.-China trade friction that was initiated by Washington. The recently announced tariffs between the two countries, combined with those implemented in 2018, could reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.5 percent in 2020, resulting in a loss of about US$455 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund.

    “The largest issue at the upcoming G20 summit would be the trade war between the United States and China, whose impacts have been felt by most economies in the world,” said Fredy B. L. Tobing, dean of the international relations faculty at the University of Indonesia.

    G20, which accounts for some 80 percent of global trade and about 85 percent of global GDP, has been a major platform for working out multilateral solutions for many of the world’s pressing challenges.

    At a time when the long-standing multilateral system and globalization itself are at stake, whether G20 members will reach consensus and keep the ball rolling could make a real difference for the future.

    “The G20 has never been more important since its inception than it is today,” said Peter Drysdale, head of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research at the Australian National University. (Xinhua)