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Hu asks leaders to work jointly for global recovery

By Huang Xiangyang and Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-26 08:28

PITTSBURGH, US: President Hu Jintao on Friday asked world leaders to continue with their stimulus packages in a more coordinated way to ensure that early signs of economic recovery translate into lasting growth.

President Hu Jintao waves to delegates as he and US President Barack Obama enter the Phipps Conservatory to attend a working dinner for senior dignitaries to the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, September 24, 2009. [China Daily]

Global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, should expedite their reforms to enable emerging economies to have a greater say in the decision-making process, he said.

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He urged world leaders to implement the agreements already reached at the two previous G20 summits, in Washington and London, to take the reform of the international financial system forward.

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the US supported China's position on the matter. Given the rise of China's economy, "it's the right thing" and Europe, too, realizes that, Geithner said.

"Faced with complicated economic situations, the most pressing task we still face is to deal with the global financial crisis and persistently stimulate economic growth," Hu told leaders of the world's largest economies at the G20 summit, which opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.

With early signs of economic recovery stimulating confidence and boosting stock markets across the world, some countries have said it is time to consider exist strategies to unwind their stimulus packages - rolled out at the height of the global economic crisis - which have pumped trillions of dollars into the capital market.

But Hu warned that despite the positive signs, the foundation for recovery is still unstable, and uncertainties still exit in the world economy.

The global economy will take a "long and tortuous process" to fully stand on its own.

He said that China is firmly against "trade protectionism in any form" and calls for the establishment of a "fair, open and free" global trade and investment system.

Poor nations

Hu urged the rich countries to fulfill the pledges they made to poor nations, including technology transfer and funds to fight global warming.

Only by doing so can the world avoid a "green gulf" that has begun emerging between the rich and poor nations, he said, referring to the large gap in technical and financial resources to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

It was Hu's fourth speech on the world stage this week. He spoke at the UN summit on climate change, the UN General Assembly general debate, and a Security Council meeting on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.

And in each of his speeches, Hu emphasized the interests of developing countries should be atop the agenda of any collective endeavor to tackle the world's problems.

Referring to the global economic imbalance, Hu said: "The root cause of the current economic imbalance is the huge development gap between the world's rich and poor nations. More resources should be injected into the development of poor countries".

World leaders also talked about issues ranging from economic recovery and regulation of the world financial system to collaboration in the development of green energy to make it a new growth engine of the world economy.

Hu was to leave for Beijing later on Friday (Saturday Beijing time) after the summit ended. A communique was likely to be issued after the summit.

Asia, Latin America

The two-day summit was dedicated to fostering a healthy global recovery, and European leaders were expected to deal with their own priority: limiting bankers' bonuses.

The leaders agreed to give Asian and Latin American countries a greater voice in a historic shift that recognizes the rising influence of the continents.

The leaders decided that Canada and the Republic of Korea (ROK) would hold a G20 summit each in June and November next year. The ROK will become the first Asian country to host the summit.