Avoid empty talks at G20: Xi
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged world leaders to avoid "empty talk" and confront sluggish economic growth and rising protectionism as their summit opened Sunday in the scenic city of Hangzhou.
Xi welcomed Group of 20 presidents and prime ministers with a handshake, and an extended clasp with Barack Obama, as both men smiled despite protocol stumbles around the US leader's visit.
The Chinese leader 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 globalisation, 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 G20 brings together representatives of 85 percent of the world's GDP and two-thirds of its population.
But experts fear the gathering will be short on substance, with no acute crisis pushing leaders to defy rising populist sentiment and to take difficult steps such as liberalising trade.
In a circular conference hall in Hangzhou -- the eastern city left deserted by a vast security operation -- Xi told leaders the G20 "should work with real action, with no empty talk".
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 towards 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.
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-globalisation sentiment fuel public resentment of immigration.
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.
British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday warned of possible "difficult times ahead" for Britain's economy as world leaders warned UK over Brexit fallout.
Speaking alongside May, Barack Obama said the US would continue to prioritise its trade deal with the EU ahead of all others. The US president said his much-derided warning ahead of the EU referendum, that Britain would be at "the back of the queue" for a deal if it voted to leave, still stood.
And Japan yesterday warned of dire consequences of Brexit.
Issued on the eve of the G20 summit in China, a document entitled "Japan's Message to the UK and EU" warns of dire consequences for "the interests of the world" if an open Europe cannot be maintained.
It comes with a clear warning that if those demands are not met, major companies such as Hitachi, Fujitsu and Nissan could move their European headquarters elsewhere - with serious implications for the 140,000 people employed by Japanese businesses in the UK.
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