China has set an example in managing global economic difficulties, Ban says

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has high expectations of what the G20 Leaders Summit being hosted by China on Sunday and Monday can achieve. 

This year's meeting in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, is the last time that Ban will attend a G20 summit in his capacity as UN chief. His second five-year term concludes at the end of the year. 

Sustainable development goals and climate change top his agenda for the Hangzhou summit. 

"For the first time in the history of the G20, the Chinese leadership is aligning the action agenda, the sustainable development goals and the climate change agreement in the G20 agenda," Ban said. 

"This is the first time that G20 leaders will gather to discuss both sustainable development goals and climate change, and how we can implement them in parallel," Ban said on Friday in an interview with several Chinese media outlets at the UN headquarters in New York. 

The Hangzhou summit has the theme "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy". 

Ban said the theme reflects the spirit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was approved by world leaders in September. 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the G20 summit will prioritize development. 

"We will push to adopt an action plan for implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and coordinate collective actions with country actions," Lu said. 

He said the summit will send a strong signal on development, which will help to implement the international consensus and inject a new impetus to world economic growth. 

Chinese leaders have steered debate to move the G20 from short-term crisis management to long-term perspectives, according to the secretary-general. 

Ban said G20 leaders also need to look at how to manage global economic difficulties, adding that China has been leading by example. 

Finance Minister Lou Jiwei has said that China is promoting priority areas and guiding principles for structural reform of G20 members, which is vital to achieve the goal of raising G20 GDP by at least 2 percent by 2018. 

On Friday, he said in Beijing that G20 finance ministers and central bank governors had reached a consensus on global cooperation. 

Ban said the Hangzhou summit is also an excellent opportunity for G20 leaders and others to advance ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change. 

So far, 22 countries have ratified the agreement, but to take effect it needs 55 countries with 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify it. 

President Xi Jinping has declared China's commitment to ratify the Paris Agreement to mark the G20 summit. 

"This is very encouraging news. I hope many countries, particularly G20 countries, will follow the suit of Chinese leadership," Ban said. 

wanglinyan@chinadailyusa.com 

(China Daily 08/31/2016 page3)