What's being said about China's role at the upcoming G20 summit

BEIJING - As the annual Group of 20 (G20) summit draws closer, the world's media has begun forecasting the issues to be addressed at the meeting.

Leaders of the world's 20 largest economies are scheduled to meet in China's southeastern city of Hangzhou on Sept 4 and 5. The gathering has caught global attention amid lackluster global economic performance and rising geopolitical tensions in Asia and around the world this year.

According to Agence France-Presse, the fluctuation of China's currency, the yuan, will be on the agenda.

The yuan is expected to drop this year, given the continuing impact of Brexit, AFP said, adding that China and other G20 nations have reaffirmed a pledge to refrain from "competitive devaluations."

"China has committed to moving in an orderly way to a more market-oriented exchange rate," AFP quoted a senior US Treasury official as saying in July.

The Associated Press believes this year's summit will focus on China's diplomatic relations with some of its neighbors.

The media outlet cited a string of China-related diplomatic issues this year, like a Hague-based tribunal's invalid award on the South China Sea issue last month, and South Korea's latest decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), whose X-band radar can snoop on Chinese and Russian territories.

Meanwhile, other diplomatic issues of global concern are also expected to be raised. Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Theresa May are due to attend the summit. The two leaders will discuss how to relax the "strained" relations of the two nations over their differences on "Ukraine and Syria as well as ... a sharp increase in flights by long-range Russian bombers near British air space."

Reuters also said that China is sparing no effort to ensure its first-ever G20 summit a success. The government and community organizations have offered English lessons to elderly residents of Hangzhou so that they are able to say "hello" to foreign leaders and reporters visiting the city.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the G20 countries will push for global economic recovery "through pro-growth strategies and innovation."

"In light of recent developments, we reiterate our determination to use all policy tools -- monetary, fiscal and structural - individually and collectively to achieve our goal of strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth," Xinhua quoted G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in a statement.

Xinhua also interviewed a number of foreign economists and experts on the upcoming summit, who said China is poised to play a "crucial" role at the meeting and guide talks aimed at jump-starting the world economy.