The 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit was the eleventh meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20). It was held on 4–5 September 2016 in the city of Hangzhou (province of Zhejiang).
It was the first ever G20 summit to be hosted in China and the second Asian country after 2010 G20 Seoul summit was hosted in South Korea.
This year’s G20 summit has a record number of developing countries attending. Apart from G20 members and international organizations, China also invited eight guest countries, including major developing nations like Egypt and Kazakhstan. This also reflects China’s efforts to focus on development issues during the summit.
And, for the first time, the G20 summit aims to have a blueprint for long-term global economic growth. China has set “developing a blueprint of innovative growth” as this year’s major topic.
G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, forge a comprehensive and integrated narrative for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, and thereby adopt the attached package of policies and actions – the Hangzhou Consensus.
G20 launched the Hangzhou Action Plan. G20 strive to reduce excessive imbalances, promote greater inclusiveness and reduce inequality in our pursuit of economic growth.
To achieve innovation-driven growth and the creation of innovative ecosystems, we support dialogue and cooperation on innovation, which covers a wide range of domains with science and technology innovation at its core. G20 delivered the G20 2016 Innovation Action Plan.
To seize the opportunity that the new industrial revolution (NIR) presents for industry, particularly manufacturing and related services, G20 delivered the G20 New Industrial Revolution Action Plan.
To unleash the potential of digital economy, G20 delivered the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative, which builds on work begun in Antalya. G20 aim to foster favorable conditions for its development and to address digital divide, including through expanded and better and affordable broadband access, flow of information for economic growth, trust and security, while ensuring respect for privacy and personal data protection, investment in the ICT sector, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, e-commerce cooperation, enhanced digital inclusion and development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
G20 leaders reiterated the essential role of structural reforms in boosting productivity and potential output, as well as promoting innovative growth in G20 countries.
G20 delivered the Enhanced Structural Reform Agenda, noting that the choice and design of structural reforms are consistent with countries’ specific economic conditions.
The leaders were also determined to improve global economic and financial governance to enhance the resilience of the world economy, and to revitalize international trade and investment as the key engines of growth and build an open world economy.
They agreed to advance the quota and governance reform of international financial institutions, broaden the use of Special Drawing Rights, strengthen the global financial safety net and make the international monetary system more stable and resilient.
The leaders agreed to deepen cooperation on financial inclusion, green finance and climate funds, and formulated an action plan on energy access, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
They will also enhance international tax cooperation, and join efforts of anti-corruption to deprive all corrupt persons of any safe haven in G20 countries and beyond.
G20 members reiterated their stance to oppose trade protectionism and support multilateral trading mechanisms in pursuit of trade growth, and formulated guiding principles for investment policymaking to facilitate investment around the world.
Consensus was also made to promote inclusive and interconnected development, so that G20 cooperation will deliver benefits to the whole world.
For the first time, the summit put development at the center of global macro policy framework and made a groundbreaking action plan implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The development of G20 has a bearing on the immediate interests of all its members and the future of world economy. Only when the mechanism responds to changes and advances with the times can it retain its vitality.