Helmut Schmidt (File Photo)

    HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The annual summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations will be ineffective in tackling global issues without an expansion to include major developing countries like China, former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt said Thursday.

    In order to further its influence over the world economy, an expansion of the G8 that brings in nations such as China, India, Brazil or Nigeria is necessary, Schmidt told the German Phoenix television.

    "The lever, which these eight (G8) represent altogether, is much too short," he said.

    Schmidt, who co-initiated the annual summit of rich nations back in the 1970s, also said that he did not have high expectations of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm.

    Such a "medium event" rarely achieves concrete results, he added.

    The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialized nations emerged following the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent global recession.