G20 must uphold multilateralism

The G20 rose to prominence in 2008 when leaders of the world's 20 leading economies gathered for the first time amid the fear and panic of the global financial crisis.

Through multilateral cooperation, they helped get a beleaguered world economy out of the woods and bring it onto the track of recovery.

But the global economic recovery remains fragile, and it has encountered a surge in protectionism from the world's largest economy that threatens to upend the rules-based multilateral trading regime.