Hu to meet leaders in New York ahead of G20

By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-15 07:00

President Hu Jintao will spend next week in the United States to explain his nation's role in tackling the financial crisis, climate change and nuclear disarmament to global leaders.

President Hu will be in New York from Sept 21-24 before heading to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the G20 meeting of world leaders from 19 countries as well as the European Union on Sept 25.

Hu and his delegation will attend a climate change discussion hosted by the UN on Sept 22 as well as a meeting on the nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

No details were released on the president's summit schedule or his meetings with global leaders.

Political experts and analysts believed that the topics of climate change and financial crisis will dominate the agenda of the world leaders, saying the coming week serves as an occasion for China's leaders to expound on the nation's role in solving thorny global problems.

United Nations officials said no goals or targets will be negotiated or finalized at the climate-change discussion next Tuesday. Chinese climate change officials are busy coordinating stances with leading nations prior to Hu's visit. Xie Zhenhua, China's national climate change envoy, said he had finished a conference call with his US counterpart last Friday, trying to pave the way for Hu's meeting with US President Barack Obama.

"We (developing countries) have already voiced our concerns and stances toward a final global climate change treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol and we hope the developed countries respond to our concerns swiftly," Xie said over the weekend.

Hu Angang, professor with Tsinghua University said the upcoming summit is critical in reshaping global governance to tackle the urgent global issues.

"I am thrilled that the global leaders are starting to mobilize a united global political will to solve the problems and I am expecting China's constructive role in the challenges, especially in mitigating global warming."

Both Chinese and overseas economists have pinned high hopes on G20 leaders at the Pittsburgh summit, which is expected to create further momentum for global economic recovery.

"I think the world leaders have been losing the sense of urgency," said Eswar Prasad, professor with Cornell University.

Prasad said despite early signs that an economic recovery may be in sight, unemployment, especially in developed economies, will likely continue its rise next year.

"Meanwhile, developed economies, such as the US, have not acted to improve the financial regulation to root out the causes of crisis," Prasad said.

Zhang Xiaojing, senior economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also said President Hu should discuss with world leaders on how to continuously stabilize the global economy and regulate the financial market and banking sectors.

"We still need more solid efforts as the foundations of global recovery is still unsafe," Zhang said. "And China also needs fast but stable economic recovery from the US, Europe and Japan, which are engines of the global economies."