Special Report: President Hu Attends G20 London Summit 

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    LONDON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China has adopted a policy of global cooperation during the past few months as the international financial crisis continues to pose grave challenges to the world economy.

    In one of its latest efforts, China, along with the world's other major economies, at the high-profile G20 summit here pledged to restore global confidence and seek sustainable economic recovery.

    Faced with the crisis, China has made necessary policy adjustments at home, unveiling a number of fiscal stimulus packages and employing a policy of easing monetary restraints.

    China also has acted as a responsible member of the international community by engaging in many bilateral and multilateral initiatives with an aim to restore the global economy.

    WORKING WITHIN G20

    China also has been working constructively within the G20 framework to calm the financial upheaval.

    The crisis, though originating with the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, has spread to the far corners of the world and has affected many industries apart from the financial sector.

    Many believe the turmoil, global by nature, must be dealt with on a multilateral basis. The G20, consisting of advanced economies and also major emerging economies, is considered the most appropriate platform for formulating an international response to the turmoil.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao told Xinhua ahead of the summit, which ended Thursday, that the G20 is an important, effective platform for the global community to discuss ways to end the crisis.

    Unlike the G8, which is made up of major advanced economies plus Russia, the G20 accounts for 90 percent of the world output, 80 percent of international trade volume and two-thirds of the world's population.

    In addition, the G20 reflects the redistribution of the world's economic power as major emerging economies work as equal partners with the major advanced economies to cope with the trouble.

    Hu met with a number of leaders of other G20 countries, including U.S. President Barrack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

    Those meetings were believed to expand the common ground between China and the other G20 members and strengthen cooperation in boosting economic growth and reforming the international monetary system.

    PROMOTING BILATERAL, REGIONAL COOPERATION

    Since the first G20 summit last November in Washington, D.C., China has rolled out two-year economic stimulus packages worth 585billion U.S. dollars.

    While striving to maintain steady economic growth at home, China also has sought to help other countries spur economic growth with pragmatic bilateral and regional cooperation in promoting the free flow of trade and investments.

    Chinese leaders launched a so-called "diplomacy of the first lunar month" in February as Hu, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping visited 15 countries and the European Union. The three leaders sent a clear message of confidence during those tours.

    China signed more than 20 cooperation agreements with five Asian and African countries during Hu's visits.

    Under those agreements, China promised to increase aid and expand trade and investment with African countries. It also wrote off part of the debt owed by some African countries as part of the agreements.

    Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has said that China has become the most popular partner of developing countries.

    Following Wen's visit to four European countries and the EU, the Chinese government signed a series of agreements worth 13.6 billion U.S. dollars with European companies.

    China also signed several agreements on bilateral cooperation with some Latin American countries during Xi's visit to the region.

    Ahead of the G20 summit, China signed currency swap deals with South Korea, Malaysia, Belarus, Indonesia and Argentina, worth about 650 billion Chinese Yuan.

    China has also worked actively within regional blocs such as ASEAN and APEC to promote regional economic cooperation as part of its efforts to help other countries weather the financial crisis.

    INITIATING POSSIBLE INTERNATIONAL REFORMS

    The current situation has highlighted the vulnerabilities and deficiencies of the existing international economic and financial system.

    Senior Chinese officials have recently initiated several key proposals to reform the global monetary system in an effort to avoid a recurrence of such problems in the future.

    The international community should push for reform of the international monetary system, including improving internal governance of major global financial organizations and increasing representation and voting rights of emerging economies within those organizations, the British newspaper The Times recently quoted Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan as saying.

    "The desirable goal of reforming the international monetary system, therefore, is to create an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run, thus removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies," Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, said in one of his recently published articles.

    Zhou recommended expanding the use of the Special Drawing Right of the International Monetary Fund in international trade, commodities pricing, investment and corporate bookkeeping.

    Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren has also said that it was necessary to build a new international monetary system based on more reserve currencies so as to maintain the stability of the system.

    The proposals raised by senior Chinese officials have been echoed by officials from many other countries and some international organizations.

    Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, said Zhou's proposal for a new international reserve currency was reasonable.

    Russian leaders also said that their country shares many of the same views expressed by Chinese officials on reforming the international monetary system. The idea of creating a new global reserve currency also was entertained by such major emerging economies as Brazil, India, South Korea and South Africa.