Hu ends Cannes trip after G20 summit

Updated: 2011-11-05 01:53

(Xinhua)

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CANNES, France - President Hu Jintao left Cannes, France, for home Friday after attending a summit of the Group of Twenty (G-20), at which G-20 leaders discussed measures to halt the downturn in the world economy and promote global financial stability.

At the two-day summit, the leaders exchanged views on the eurozone debt crisis, reform of the international monetary system, the strengthening of financial regulations, and trade and development issues.

The G-20 summit was held at a time of heightened tensions and significant downside risks for the global economy.

At present, international financial markets are suffering drastic fluctuations, and the world economic recovery is at risk amid growing instability and uncertainty. In the eurozone, sovereign debt risks are rising in some countries.

While unemployment remains high in major developed countries, emerging economies are faced with inflationary pressures. World economic growth is showing signs of a slowdown.

President Hu made speeches at the summit, elaborating on China's propositions on the topics.

As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, the G-20 must continue to demonstrate the spirit of standing together in times of adversity and pursuing win-win cooperation, Hu said.

"At this critical moment, the G-20 must work to address the key problems, boost market confidence, defuse risks and meet challenges, and promote global economic growth and financial stability," the Chinese leader said.

Hu made a number of proposals, including: to ensure growth while paying attention to balance, to pursue win-win outcomes through cooperation, to improve governance in the course of reform, to strive for progress through innovation, and to promote common prosperity through development.

The G-20 was created in 1999 in response to the financial crises affecting the emerging countries in the late 1990s.

In the face of a global financial crisis, heads of state and government of G-20 members met for the first time in Washington in November 2008 to work out an action plan designed to prevent the financial system and the global economy from collapsing.

Since then, leaders of the G-20 members have met regularly: in London in April 2009, Pittsburgh in September 2009, Toronto in June 2010, and Seoul in November 2010.

In the past three years, the G-20 members have taken drastic steps to support the global economy, and begun to address problems of global macro-economic imbalances and the inadequacies of financial regulation.

The G-20, which accounts for 85 percent of global output and two thirds of the world's population, has become the premier forum for economic and financial cooperation.

G-20 members are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

Cannes, the host city of the G-20 summit, lies on southeastern France's Mediterranean coast. With its outstanding climate and beautiful setting, the city is a popular tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival.