G20 agrees to grant permanent membership to African Union

NEW DELHI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Group of 20 (G20) members agreed on Saturday to grant permanent membership to the African Union (AU) in an effort to make the group more representative.

The agreement was reached at the inaugural session of the two-day G20 summit held in New Delhi during the weekend.

Azali Assoumani, president of the Union of the Comoros and current AU chairperson, then assumed his seat for the session.

China is the first country that explicitly expressed its support for the AU's membership in the G20.