Global economy faces ‘multiple risks’

The Group of 20 (G20) summit opened Sunday in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou amid multiple risks and challenges. 
The G20 brings together representatives of 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed the G20 leaders with a handshake, and an extended clasp with US President Barack Obama.
Xi said the Group of 20 should take a leadership role in major issues.
G20 should find a direction and a course for the world economy with a strategic vision, Xi said while addressing the opening of the G20 summit.
He urged world leaders to avoid “empty talk” and confront sluggish economic growth and rising protectionism. 
“We should turn the G20 group into an action team, instead of a talk shop,” he said.
Xi said the world economy “still faces multiple risks and challenges including a lack of growth momentum and consumption, turbulent financial markets, receding global trade and investment.”
The rise of protectionism is challenging economic globalization, imperilling multilateral trade arrangements, and despite regulatory reforms market volatility is gathering pace, he said.
“We hope the Hangzhou summit will come up with a prescription for the world economy and lead it back to the road of strong, balanced, comprehensive and sustainable growth,” Xi said.
The summit was preceded by a flurry of diplomatic activity on issues ranging from climate change and the war in Syria to international trade.
The US and China on Saturday ratified the Paris climate accord, a crucial step toward bringing into force the pact against global warming.
There had been hopes for another breakthrough, on the long war in Syria, after the US said it was close to a deal with Russia on stemming the violence.
But negotiations between Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterpart Sergei Lavrov yielded only an agreement to convene again on Monday, with Russia accused of “walking back” on key issues.
EU President Donald Tusk said Europe was “close to limits” on its ability to accept new waves of refugees and urged the broader international community to shoulder its share of the burden.
The issue has become a political hot potato for European leaders as Islamist terror attacks and rising anti-globalization sentiment fuel public resentment of immigration.
Pictures of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy lying on a Greek beach briefly changed the discourse last year, with Germany throwing open its borders, but a major backlash swiftly followed.
Ahead of the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned against “rampant” protectionism and nationalism, saying that “building walls” was not the solution.”
The talks are being held in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, which leaves it with the task of renegotiating access to the markets of the rest of the world.
It is a huge job for the world’s fifth-biggest economy, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Canberra had “got things moving toward having a free trade agreement with the UK.”
But European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he opposes such talks while Britain remains part of the EU, insisting they were an “exclusive matter” for the bloc on behalf of its members and “we are sticking to it.”
To meet the demand of the world economy, G20 should shift from coping with crisis to long-term governance, he said.
G20 should work with real actions but no empty talk, Xi said, calling for concrete actions to implement joint plans on sustainable development, green financing and anti-corruption, he said.
G20 should seek opinion from all parties and listen to the voices of developing countries to make the mechanism more inclusive, Xi said.
Countries have common aspirations for economic growth and development despite their different conditions, development status and challenges.

Source: Arab News