Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy

Opening Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People’s Republic of China

At the G20 Hangzhou Summit

Dear Colleagues,

The G20 Hangzhou Summit now begins.

It gives me great pleasure to meet you here in Hangzhou, and I wish to extend a warm welcome to you all.

The G20 Summit in Antalya last year was a big success. I wish to use this opportunity to thank Turkey once again for its outstanding job and the positive outcomes achieved during its presidency. Under the theme “Collective Action for Inclusive and Robust Growth”, Turkey brought about progress in inclusiveness, implementation and investment. China highly commends Turkey’s efforts on various fronts during its G20 presidency.

Last November in Antalya, I talked to you about Hangzhou by quoting a Chinese saying, “Up in heaven, there is paradise; down on earth, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.” And I said that I trust the Hangzhou Summit will be a unique setting where history is blended with modernity. I am glad you have accepted my invitation and come to Hangzhou. Present here are old and new friends of mine, and we will discuss ways to sustain global growth.

In the next two days, under the theme of the Summit, we will have discussions on strengthening policy coordination, breaking a new path for growth, more effective and efficient global economic and financial governance, robust international trade and investment, inclusive and interconnected development, as well as other issues affecting the world economy.

Eight years ago, at the height of the international financial crisis, the G20, acting in a spirit of unity and partnership, pulled the world economy back from the precipice and pushed it onto the track of stability and recovery. Thanks to this daring initiative, unity prevailed over differences and common good prevailed over selfish interests. The crisis focused global attention on the G20 and established it as the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

Today, eight years on, the global economy has again reached a critical juncture. The conventional engines driving global growth over the past decades, such as scientific and technological progress, population growth and economic globalization, have entered a transitional period, and their ability to stimulate global growth is notably weaker. The growth momentum generated by the last round of scientific and technological progress is diminishing, while the new round of scientific and industrial revolution has just started. Population aging is happening in all major economies, and the decline in population growth puts economic and social pressure on countries. Economic globalization is suffering setbacks, protectionism and inward-looking trends are on the rise, and the multilateral trading regime is under pressure. Despite notable progress made in financial regulatory reform, the risks of excessive leverage and bubbles continue to build up. To ensure that the financial market effectively meets the need of the real economy while maintaining stability remains a major challenge to the international community.

Under the impact of all these factors, the global economy, while still on the road to recovery, faces multiple risks and challenges such as weak growth momentum, sluggish demand, volatility in the financial market and low growth in international trade and investment.

The G20 consists of the world’s major economies. Its critical role and impact place the G20 at the forefront of the global efforts to tackle risks and challenges and expand the space of growth. The international community has great expectation for the G20 and places high hopes on the Hangzhou Summit. In response, we should find solutions to the problems we face through both individual and collective efforts. I hope the Hangzhou Summit will build on previous progress to provide a solution that addresses both the symptoms and root causes of the global economic problems and achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive global growth.

First, in the face of these challenges, we should strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination and jointly promote global growth and uphold international financial stability. The G20 members should pursue more comprehensive macroeconomic policies in keeping with their own national realities and employ various policy tools, including fiscal, monetary and structural reform policies, to expand aggregate global demand, improve the quality of supply and bolster the foundation of growth. We should, in conjunction with the formulation and implementation of the Hangzhou Action Plan, continue to strengthen policy coordination, reduce negative spillovers, and work together to uphold financial stability and boost market confidence.

Second, in the face of these challenges, we should break a new path for growth and generate new growth momentum. The G20 should change its policy approach, and place equal importance on both short-term and medium- to long-term policies and both demand-side management and supply-side reform. This year, we have agreed on the G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth and made the unanimous decision to break a new path and expand new frontier for the world economy through innovation, structural reform, new industrial revolution and the development of digital economy. We should stay committed to these initiatives to remove the root cause of sluggish recovery and weak growth that plagues the global economy, and lay a solid foundation for achieving a new round of global growth and prosperity.

Third, in the face of these challenges, we should improve global economic governance and strengthen institutional safeguards. The G20 should continue to improve the international monetary and financial systems and the governance structure of international financial institutions and fully leverage the role of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights. We should strengthen the global financial safety net, and enhance cooperation in financial regulation, international taxation and combating corruption to boost the resilience of the world economy against risks. This year, we have restarted the G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group. I hope that the working group will continue its work and become more effective.

Fourth, in the face of these challenges, we should build an open global economy and continue to promote facilitation and liberalization of trade and investment. Protectionism is like drinking poison to quench one’s thirst: It may ease a country’s internal pressure in the short term, but will only inflict severe damage to the country itself and the world economy in the long run. The G20 should resolutely oppose the beggar-thy-neighbor policy, and advocate and promote the building of an open global economy. We should honor our commitment of not adopting new protectionist measures, strengthen coordination and cooperation on investment policies and take credible steps to stimulate trade growth. Infrastructure connectivity should be enhanced so as to bring developing countries and small and medium-sized companies into the global value chain and make the global economy more open and integrated.

Fifth, in the face of these challenges, we should implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote inclusive development. To achieve common development is the shared aspiration of all peoples, especially those of the developing countries. According to the relevant statistics, the Gini coefficient has exceeded the widely-recognized alarm level of 0.6 and reached around 0.7 globally. This is something that we must pay close attention to. This year, development is high on the G20 agenda, and we have committed ourselves to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and formulated an action plan. We will also support industrialization in Africa and the least developed countries, expand energy access and improve energy efficiency, encourage more consumption of clean and renewable energy, promote financial inclusion and encourage the young people to start their own businesses. Through these means and more, we can reduce the inequality and imbalance in global development and deliver the benefits of global growth to people of all countries.

Dear Colleagues,

The G20 carries high expectation of the international community and shoulders a heavy responsibility. We must ensure that the G20 fully plays its role of keeping the world economy on the track of prosperity and stability.

First, the G20 must keep up with the changing times and lead the way forward. The G20 should adapt itself to the needs of the global economy and further transform itself from a mechanism of crisis response to one of long-term governance. When major issues emerge, the G20 has the responsibility to play a leading role and, with strategic vision, set the direction and blaze the trail for global growth.

Second, the G20 should fully honor its commitment. As a Chinese saying puts it, one thousand promises do not count as much as one real action. We should make the G20 an action team instead of a talk shop. This year, we have formulated action plans for many areas such as sustainable development, green finance, energy efficiency and combating corruption, and each and every plan should be implemented.

Third, the G20 should become a platform of cooperation built through joint efforts that delivers benefits to all. We should continue to strengthen the institutional building of the G20 to sustain and deepen our cooperation. We should solicit proposals for improvement and heed the views of all countries, especially the developing countries, so as to make the G20 more inclusive and better respond to the demand of people of different countries.

Fourth, the G20 should stick together as partners in meeting challenges. Partnership is the most valuable asset of the G20. The G20 countries differ in national conditions, stages of development and face different challenges. But we all share a common goal of pursuing stronger growth, meeting challenges and achieving common development. So long as we stick together, we can navigate the heavy waves of the global economy and sail towards a future of growth.

Dear Colleagues,

In preparing for the Hangzhou Summit, China has followed the principle of openness, transparency and inclusiveness, and maintained close contact and coordination with all other members. We have also held dialogue of various forms with the United Nations, the African Union, the G77, the least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island states to brief them and all the people who show an interest in the G20 on our preparation. We have listened to the views and proposals of various parties and benefited greatly from them in making preparation for the Hangzhou Summit.

I hope that during discussions in the coming two days, we will pool our vision and create synergy so as to enable the Hangzhou Summit to fulfill its mandate of boosting global growth, strengthening international economic cooperation and promoting the future growth of the G20.

Let’s make Hangzhou a new departure point and steer the giant ship of the global economy on a new voyage from the shore of the Qiantang River to the vast ocean.

Thank you!