BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the outreach session of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday. This is the third time for President Hu to be invited to the dialogue meeting.
The Group of Eight (G8), a coordination mechanism for leading industrialized countries, has been playing an important role in world politics and economy.
In recent years, G8, consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, has strengthened its relations with developing countries and invited such nations as China and India for dialogues on major international issues.
The 2003 G8 summit was held in Evian, France. The host country wanted to send a message to the world that dialogue and coordinated actions could facilitate common development, unity and security.
At the invitation of France, leaders from China, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, as well as five NEPAD (the New Partnership for Africa's Development) countries -- Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa, attended the informal South-North dialogue meeting ahead of the G8 summit.
The leaders from the developing countries exchanged views with the G8 leaders on world economy and peace. President Hu was invited for the first time to attend the meeting.
The 2005 G8 summit was held in Gleneagles, Scotland. Britain, the host country, invited leaders from five major developing countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) and some African countries (Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania) to attend the dialogue meeting.
At the meeting, the G8 leaders and the leaders from the developing countries discussed world economy, climate change and other major international issues.
President Hu delivered a speech at the meeting in which he made a four-point proposal on developing world economy, implementing the UN Millennium Development Goals, deepening South-North dialogue and dealing with climate change. Enditem
