BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The ninth Group of 20 (G20) summit, an international forum on economic cooperation among the world's 20 major economies, will be convened on Saturday and Sunday in Brisbane, Australia. The following is a brief introduction to the bloc.
The grouping was initiated in September 1999 to bring together finance ministers and central bank governors of important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues concerning the global economy.
The G20 members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States, and the European Union (EU).
As an informal arena to facilitate dialogue between major industrial and emerging-market countries on major issues related to global economic stability, the G20 economies account for around 85 percent of global economic output, more than three-quarters of global trade and two-thirds of the world's population.
The bloc promotes world's economic growth and development by reinforcing international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international cooperation and international financial institutions.
Unlike some other international organizations, the G20 has no permanent staff of its own. Its chair rotates between members, and is selected from different regional grouping of countries each year.
Leaders of the G20 have periodically conferred at summits since the bloc grew in stature with their initial leaders' gathering in Washington in November 2008 when the global financial crisis worsened.
In April and September of 2009, the second and third summits of the G20 were held respectively in London, Britain and Pittsburgh, the United States. In June and November of 2010, the fourth and fifth G20 summits took place in Toronto, Canada and Seoul, South Korea, respectively. In November 2011, the sixth meeting was convened in Cannes, France. Mexico's Los Cabos and the Russian city of St. Petersburg played hosts to the next two summits in June 2012 and September 2013, respectively.
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