China sees positive outcomes at G-20 Seoul summit
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The Group of 20 summit that ended Friday has produced positive outcomes through consultation and cooperation among all the participating parties, said Chinese delegation spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.
The summit was held at a time when the world economy is slowly recovering but uncertainties remain, and the G-20 is also evolving from a mechanism for crisis response to becoming one for long-term economic governance, Ma said.
Positive outcomes
Firstly, one of the positive outcomes of the summit, Ma said, was the joint commitment of the members to strengthen the role of the G-20, and handle the challenges in international economic and financial areas to promote the strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy.
Secondly, the G-20 leaders also agreed to further promote reform of international financial institutions and implement as soon as possible the shifts of over 6 percent in the International Monetary Fund quota shares to emerging economies.
Thirdly, the G-20 leaders for the first time took development as one of the themes of the summit, and issued the Seoul Consensus and Multi-Year Action Plan on Development. The parties all agreed to make development a long-term item on the agenda of future G-20 summits.
Ma said this signaled that the G-20 has reached a new level in its understanding of the issue of development.
Fourthly, building on the outcomes of the previous summits, the G-20 leaders continued to push for stronger international financial supervision and regulation and greater opposition against trade protectionism. They also agreed on a series of new steps and measures.
This will help achieve long-term, healthy and stable development of the world economy, Ma said.
Global economic imbalance
Ma said many G-20 members, including China, do not share the view and proposal for the Seoul summit to focus on addressing current account imbalances and set a numerical target.
The global economic imbalance is a major issue on the agenda of the G-20 summits and has been discussed many times. It is a reality that has existed for many years. It has complex and deep-seated structural causes, including the imbalances in North-South development, international division of labor and the international monetary system, Ma said.
Ma said the current account imbalance is a manifestation of the global economic imbalance, not its cause. And to resolve the issue of imbalance, it is imperative to address the root causes, not the symptoms.
