President Xi calls for innovation, opposes protectionism
Sep-12-2016 By : fcccadmin
Leaders of the G20 nations have agreed to oppose protectionism, President Xi Jinping said after hosting the G20 summit in Hangzhou. Freer trade poses a dilemma for the leaders of several countries, who have to contend with rising populism and a perception that the global economic order exemplified by the G20 is not working for ordinary people. Xi said that relying only on fiscal and monetary policy for growth would not work. “We need to reignite the engine of growth via innovation,” he said, adding that the G20 had adopted “guiding principles” for investment policy management. “It is the world’s first framework of multilateral investment rules,” he said without giving details. German Chancellor Angela Merkel illustrated the delicate approach, calling for the system to be made fairer but also speaking out against the temptation to look inward, with “protectionist measures that put the brakes on growth.” French President François Hollande said: “France is for globalization but on condition that it is regulated, that there are principles, standards, particularly for the environment, for society.” U.S. President Obama has been promoting the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but many believe it will give big business unfair benefits and allow multinationals to escape regulation through the backdoor. Concluding the G20 Summit on September 5, President Xi Jinping warned about sluggish global growth, financial market turbulence and receding global trade and investment, the Shanghai Daily reports.
During the summit, President Xi also called for the transformation of the G20 from a mechanism of crisis response to one of long-term governance. Analysts said Xi’s proposals revealed China’s growing contribution to and influence on global economic governance. “China has brought many new inputs to global governance, such as promoting innovation, structural reform and strengthening development and cooperation among the developed and developing countries, which breaks new ground for achieving global development goals,” said Jia Jinjing, Researcher with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China. Analysts said the summit reflects a change of China’s role in global governance from a participator to a lead reformer.
G20 Summit looking for remedies for the world economy
Sep-05-2016 By : fcccadmin
The Summit of the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) industrialized and developing countries is being held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on September 4 and 5. Chinese President Xi Jinping, acting as host of the meeting, welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, EU leaders Tusk and Juncker, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, France’s President Francois Hollande, and other leaders. The G20 brings together representatives of 85% of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population, and was created to coordinate the world’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. China has never hosted so many world leaders in one meeting, totaling about 40 heads of nations, governments and international organizations.
China will work together with all parties to make the G20 Hangzhou Summit prescribe remedies for the world economy to achieve robust, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, President Xi Jinping said. At the Summit, China defended free trade and globalization. No country has benefitted more from economic globalization than China, as its growth over the past three decades has been largely driven by foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports. China is also opposing rising protectionism. The global economy is being threatened by rising protectionism and risks of high leverage are accumulating, Xi warned at the opening of the two-day summit. The global economy is “at a crucial juncture,” he said, plagued by sluggish demand, financial market volatility and feeble trade and investment. “Growth drivers from the previous round of technological progress are gradually fading, while a new round of technological and industrial revolution has yet to gain momentum,” he said. Xi said the global economy “still faces multiple risks and challenges including a lack of growth momentum and consumption, turbulent financial markets, and receding global trade and investment. Group of 20 countries should abide by their commitment to avoid taking new protectionist measures, strengthen investment policy cooperation and take effective action to promote trade growth.”
China and U.S. ratify Paris climate agreement
By : fcccadmin
China and the U.S. announced on the eve of the Summit that they had ratified the Paris agreement on cutting climate-warming emissions, marking a major step toward the enactment of the pact as early as the end of the year and setting the stage for other countries to follow suit. China and the U.S. are he world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. “Just as I believe the Paris agreement will ultimately prove to be a turning point for our planet, I believe that history will judge today’s efforts as pivotal,” U.S. President Barack Obama said after he and Chinese President Xi Jinping handed ratified documents to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “With China and the United States making this historic step, we now have 26 parties in the UN Framework Convention and 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions accounted for,” Ban said. Although the Paris deal was signed in the French capital in December, it will come into force only after at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions join the accord. Ban urged other leaders to show leadership by accelerating their domestic ratification process. The accord signed in Paris aims to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius, and 1.5 degrees if possible, compared with pre-industrial levels.
Xi Jinping and Obama meet ahead of G20 Summit
By : fcccadmin
Beijing and Washington should strengthen mutual trust and “manage and control divergences in a constructive manner” for a lasting and healthy development of bilateral relations, President Xi Jinping said when meeting with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Hangzhou on September 3. The meeting, the eighth between the two leaders, was held ahead of the two-day G20 Leaders Summit on September 4 and 5. Two-way trade, investment and personnel exchanges are at historic highs, and both countries have worked jointly to tackle climate change, advance negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) and establish a mutual trust mechanism between the two countries’ militaries, Xi said. Progress has also been made in fighting cybercrime, coping with the ebola epidemic in Africa and facilitating an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, the President said. Tackling climate change has been a highlight of the China-U.S. collaboration. Ahead of their face-to-face talks, the two leaders handed over to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon the documents in which the two countries agreed to join the Paris climate agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
China and the United States committed anew to refrain from competitive currency devaluations, with China saying it would continue an orderly transition to a market-oriented exchange rate for the yuan. A joint “fact sheet”, issued a day after Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama held talks, also said the two countries committed “not to unnecessarily limit or prevent commercial sales opportunities for foreign suppliers of IT products or services”. Both countries said they would “refrain from competitive devaluations and not target exchange rates for competitive purposes”, the fact sheet said. China would “continue an orderly transition to a market-determined exchange rate, enhancing two-way flexibility. China stresses that there is no basis for a sustained depreciation of the yuan. Both sides recognize the importance of clear policy communication.” China said it would deepen supply-side structural reforms with a comprehensive strategy, including state-owned enterprise reform, giving full play to the role of the market and legal mechanisms, to reduce corporate debt, including state-owned enterprise debt. China and the U.S. also recognize that excess capacity in steel and other industries is a global issue which requires collective responses, the South China Morning Post reports.
China still committed to BRICS
By : fcccadmin
The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) held a meeting ahead of the G20 Summit, as China is still trying to breathe life into BRICS to promote developing nations. President Xi Jinping has called on BRICS nations to “play a bigger role in international affairs and governance”. The five BRICS nations should also work to “oppose all kinds of protectionism and exclusionism” and to safeguard the multilateral trade system, Xi said. He also called for efforts by members of the emerging-market bloc to drive the BRICS New Development Bank to implement the first batch of projects and boost the bank’s management level and financing capabilities. China regards the BRICS as a club that can counter the power of rich countries like the U.S., Japan, Germany and Britain. “A developing country like China alone is unable to change the long-existing international governance structure, unless it joins forces with other developing countries to challenge the West-dominated institutions,” said Professor Oliver Rui from the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. China is the dominant force in the BRICS as its economy is bigger than the four other members combined. The BRICS countries share few political, economic, social and even foreign policy interests except for shared unhappiness about the domination of global governance by the West. The BRICS will hold its 8th annual summit in Goa, India, next month, the South China Morning Post reports.
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