BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the Group of 20 (G20) financial summit in Britain scheduled for April 1-2, at the invitation of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced today.

 

Related: What role will China play in G20 summit?

    BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- As a major emerging market, what role will China play in trying to salvage the global economy during the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) summit?

    Zhao Xijun, finance professor at the Renmin University of China, suggested that emerging economies including China, India, Brazil and Russia might take a different stand from developed economies.

    To a larger extent, polar positions are forming across the world when it comes to collaborating on problem solving, said Zhao. Those positions reflect changes in global economic power.

    The G20 summit, scheduled for April 1-2 in Britain, will be the second time since last November's G20 summit in Washington that leaders from the developing and developed world sit at the same table to find a solution for struggling economy.

    EMERGING INFLUENCE

    "As one of the most important countries in G20, China should play an active role in the London summit," said Du Dawei, director of the China Bureau of the World Bank.

    Concerted efforts in the global fight against the crisis, especially the huge stimulus plans launched by China and the United States, are a decisive factor in facilitating a reversal of the economic downturn, Du said.

    Though the World Bank has tuned down its forecast of China's economic growth to 6.5 percent in 2009, the figure remains outstanding compared to other countries.

    China's economy received less damage than other major economies from the crisis, Du said. With two trillion U.S. dollars worth of foreign exchange reserves in hand, China is under the spotlight of the international community, which has high expectations regarding how much contribution China could make towards helping the world weather the current situation.

    "Amid the financial crisis, almost every economic stimulus plan launched by China is in the global spotlight. Only the United States could rival it in the extent of attention received, which exemplifies China's place in the fight against the global problem," said Yuan Gangming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank.

    Though severely damaged by the financial storm, the condition of the global real economy is somewhat better-off compared with the depression era of the 1930s. The key reason is that emerging economies contributed greatly to boost sustainable global growth, said Yuan.

    China managed to grow by 9 percent and India by about 6 percent last year.

    DEMAND FOR MORE RIGHTS

    At the London Summit, China will continue to demand more rights for developing countries, such as more voting rights, predicted Gong Li, director of the International Strategic Research Institute of the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

    Weeks ahead of the summit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called for reforming the internal governance structure of the IMF to fend off financing and investment risks, balance rights and obligations and pay more attention to the interests of developing countries.

    On Saturday, finance ministers from Brazil, Russia, India and China called for greater voting rights for developing countries within international financial organizations on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers.

    Proposals include setting up a global early warning system for the financial sector, building effective responding and rescuing mechanisms, and most importantly, greater representation for emerging and developing countries within the IMF and the World Bank.

    China will also call for stricter financial supervision and protest any form of trade protectionism, said Gong.

    IMMEDIATE RESULTS?

    Though much was entrusted to the G20 summit, such as the reform of the international monetary and financial systems, experts had doubts of whether the meeting would be effective.

    Zhang Yansheng, director of the foreign economic research institution with the National Development and Reform Commission, noted that to solve the deeper systematic and institutional cause of the problem, real concerted efforts of the international society are needed. But the divergence of the United States and Europe on the building of an international financial system would make substantial reform impossible.

    "The London Summit may not lead to productive results to deal with the crisis," said Yin Jianfeng, deputy director of the Institute of Finance and Banking of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

    "It is unrealistic to expect immediate change in the international monetary and financial system which is dominated by the U.S. dollar," he said.

    Even if China boosts its contribution to the IMF, it could not change the dominant power the United States wields in the organization, said Yin.

    According to IMF rule, the United States, with about 17 percent of the voting rights, has veto power over important decisions. As voting rights are decided by the amount of contributions, it would be difficult to increase the voting rights of emerging economies, he said.

    CHANCE FOR CHINA

    But China should still take the chance and increase its contributions to the organization to boost China's influence on world financial issues, said experts.

    Despite emerging disputes and divergences, the London Summit would be a step towards solving the problem, said Gong Li.

    The G20 summit should continue as it is the most important place to discuss how to lead the world economy out of the current swamp, said experts.

    The G20 summit is playing an increasingly powerful role in integrating efforts to fight against the global crisis, which has surpassed many negotiation systems such as the G8 summit, and achieved a broader representation of global economies, Zhao Xijun said.

    "Through the G20 summit, China has started to take part in international fiscal and financial decision making, a crucial step made on the international stage," said Yuan Gangming.