G20: Functional Expansion, Agenda-Setting and China’s Role

Liu Hongsong

Professor， School of International and Public Affairs，

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008， G20 has been upgraded from a mechanism of meeting among finance ministers and central bank governors to a summit mechanism， and has quickly replaced the Group of Seven （G7） as the “primary forum for international economic cooperation”， which has made outstanding contributions to tackling the global financial crisis. As a coordination mechanism aimed at promoting policy consultation among systemically important economies， G20 has achieved functional expansion in post financial crisis era， and the scope of topics has gradually expanded. In response to the legitimacy challenges arising from the expansion of its functions， G20 has strengthened its contacts and interactions with non-member states， international organizations and various social groups. The rotating presidency of the G20 summit enjoys the priority of agenda setting. However， in addition to promoting the priorities of its own concern， the rotating presidency will set the theme of the summit meeting according to the global challenges faced by all countries. In the G20 process， China has played a leading role in agenda setting， mechanism building as well as reform of global governance system.

G20s Functional Expansion

As a multilateral dialogue mechanism composed by both developed and developing countries of systemic importance， G20 has high authority and strong representativeness. The small membership allows G20 to easily reach consensus on crisis decision-making. Therefore， G20 has become the core mechanism for countries to organize collective action in times of crisis. Due to the above features of the G20 mechanism， its member states reached quite a number of consensus on various issues such as macroeconomic policy coordination， international financial market regulation and reform of international financial institutions， which injected political impetus into collective action to deal with the financial crisis. The implementation of these policy consensus to a large extent benefits from G20s cooperation with relevant international organisations， who formulated specific implementation plans that are binding and provide a mechanism guarantee for the implementation of the summit outcomes in response to the financial crisis. When the financial crisis got eased， G20 transformed from a temporary crisis resolution mechanism to a long-term governance mechanism， and its function also expanded to a long-term governance mechanism. However， the path of its role-play has not changed， and it still uses international organisations in specific topic areas to transform policy consensus into governance action. On international development， transnational counter-tax invasion cooperation， food security， energy security and other issues， G20 cooperates with the World Bank（WB）， the International Labour Organisation， Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development， the International Energy Agency， the United Nations Development Programme and other international organisations to promote global governance in related topics. In order to strengthen coordination with other international organisations， G20 requires that relevant international organisations provide analytical opinions to support the implementation of their policy consensus. G20 and these international organisations have formed a mutually needed “Leader-Follower” relationship and a complementary “symbiotic” relationship. This relationship is reflected not only in the formers leading and decision-making and the latters follow-up and implementation， which highlights the G20s leadership in global economic governance， but also in the latters relying on the former to strengthen coordination and cooperation among global economic governance institutions， while expanding its legitimacy and influence through the G20 platform. This cooperative governance mode was also adopted by G20 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. G20 leaders recognize the urgent need to carry out close cooperation with international organisations such as the World Health Organisation， the World Trade Organisation， the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in pandemic prevention and control， global value chain risk management and anti-pandemic assistance. It was put forward in the G20 Leaders Summit Statement on COVID-19 in March 2020 that， “G20 is committed to do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic， along with the World Health Organisation， International Monetary Fund， WB， UN， and other international organisations， working within their existing mandates.”

Along with the expansion of its functions， G20s agenda， no more focusing on economic and financial topics with financial stability and economic growth as the core issues， has gradually expanded to cover various topics such as climate change， sustainable development， womens rights， digitalisation， future working forms and so on. With the expansion of the scope of topics， G20 has set up a series of working groups， research groups and task forces， which further promotes the expansion of the scope of topics and the refinement of the agenda. With the expansion of functions and the scope of topics， G20s central position in global governance system has been strengthened. Accordingly， G20 decision-making has exerted a practical impact on non-member states and the global public in many topic areas. However， non-member states and social groups representing the interests of different groups has no access to participating in G20s decision-making process， which has resulted in the questioning of the legitimacy of the G20 mechanism.

Some critics believe that G20， as an optional Club of economic powers， excludes most countries and lacks extensive support from non-member states and civil society， so it cannot serve as “the primary forum for international economic cooperation”. They think G20 has sacrificed inclusiveness of membership in the name of efficiency and effectiveness. Other critics point out that since the G20 agenda has expanded to include non-economic issues such as climate change， terrorism， food security and global health， greater accountability and transparency are required in terms of its impact and consequences on the global public. The inadequate contact and interaction between G20 and the public have triggered protests， including the one against the G20 summit in Hamburg in July 2017.

In order to meet the challenge of legitimacy， G20 has adopted a multi-level outreach strategy for non-member states， global international organisations， regional international organisations and domestic stakeholders. G20 has absorbed other international actors to improve its legitimacy， and no longer emphasizes the exclusiveness of the group as it did at the beginning of the financial crisis. G20 member states are also aware that the legitimacy of the G20 is inseparable from the inclusiveness of its membership， so it has become a tradition for the G20 presidency to invite non-member states to attend the meeting. For example， Spain as a non-member state is often invited to attend the G20 summit. Regional representative countries are also frequently invited to attend. From a regional perspective， Africa is the least representative region， with South Africa as the sole member state. Not only Nigeria， Africas largest economy， has no seat， but also the African Union， a regional international organisation， is only a “regular guest”. Inviting non-member states to the meeting provides a channel for member states to discuss and consult with these countries. Although the invitees to the summit are decided by the rotating presidency， there are some common practices， that is， to invite the presidents of regional international organisations， such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations（ASEAN）， the African Union and the New Partnership for Africas Development（NEPAD）. Other invitees are at the discretion of the presidency. For example， at the Hamburg summit in 2017， Germany invited Norway， the Netherlands and Singapore; at the Buenos Aires summit in 2018， Argentina invited Chile， the Netherlands and Jamaica， the rotating chair of Caribbean Community and Common Market（CARICOM）. In addition， G20 continues to deepen its contacts and consultations with various transnational actors， and witnesses the growing of the number of its stakeholders， including engagement groups representing the interests of different social groups， such as industry and commerce， civil society organisations， trade unions and think tanks. G20 has carried out a series of peripheral dialogues with these “participating groups”， and its legitimacy has been improved through this more inclusive practice model.

Through peripheral dialogues， B20 （Industry and Commerce）， C20 （Civil Society）， L20 （Labour）， W20 （Women）， Y20 （Youth）， T20 （Think tank） and S20 （Science） actively lobbied G20 members， discussed G20 decisions and provided analytical opinions. As a result， some of the demands of these “participating groups” have been written in the G20 agenda.

G20s Agenda-Setting

The agenda of G20 is mainly set by the rotating presidency of the summit. For example， at the 2016 Hangzhou Summit， China designed the theme and specific topics reflecting the distinctive contributions of major developing countries， shaping the global economic governance agenda from two aspects of “growth” and “development”. The 2019 Osaka Summit focused on the priorities of Japan， the then rotating presidency， namely， building high-quality infrastructure， enhancing financial sustainability， strengthening human capital investment to achieve people-oriented development， and coping with the aging population. However， the rotating presidency of the G20 summit should not only advance its own agenda， but also take into account the priorities and concerns of other countries. As the topics of preventing trade protectionism， addressing climate change and promoting economic growth are the concerns of all countries， even if they are not the priorities of the rotating presidency of the summit， they will still be enlisted in the G20 agenda. At the 2020 Riyadh Summit， the rotating presidency Saudi Arabia， taking into consideration the concerns of all countries about COVID-19 pandemic， focused on protecting the life， restoring economic growth， tackling the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic， and laying the foundation for a better future.

Judging from the preparatory process of the G20 summit， the agenda-setting right is not exclusive to the rotating presidency of the summit. In the preparatory process of a summit， the “troika” mechanism with the participation of the previous， current and the next rotating presidents has made the G20 agenda more consistency. The previous and the next rotating presidents can transmit their own agenda preferences through the “troika” mechanism， so as to guide the agenda-setting of the G20 summit during the period when they are not hosting the summit.

This mechanism enables the agenda set by the previous rotating presidency to have a follow-up effect. Germany， the rotating president of the 2017 Hamburg Summit， has identified “building resilience， improving sustainability and assuming responsibility” as the three priorities of the summit. These priorities covers strengthening economic resilience， strengthening the international financial architecture， deepening cooperation on trade and investment， protecting the climate and advancing sustainable energy supply， making progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda， combating terrorist financing and money laundering， fighting cooperation and other areas for cooperation. This is highly consistent with the theme of “fostering an innovative， invigorated， interconnected and inclusive world economy” proposed by China at the 2016 Hangzhou Summit. The two key issues of “growth” and “development” discussed at the Hangzhou Summit were both included in the agenda of the Hamburg Summit， which shows that the agenda set by China at the Hangzhou Summit has exerted a good follow-up effect.

Role Played by China

in G20 Mechanism

China has played a leading role in agenda setting， mechanism building and global governance system reform in the G20 mechanism， actively promoting countries to reach policy consensus and implement the outcomes of the summit. Chinas positive action in agenda-setting was already apparent before hosting the G20 Hangzhou Summit. China has successfully shaped the G20 agenda on the issue of international financial regulatory reform by taking advantage of the change of attitudes towards financial regulation in the United Kingdom and the United States after the outbreak of the global financial crisis， and introduced the policy initiatives to strengthen international financial regulation into the G20 policy consensus. On the issue of the reform of international financial institutions， China， taking the opportunity that the United States and other western developed countries have an urgent need to increase the financial resources of the IMF， has introduced the IMF share reform and policy initiatives to enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in international financial institutions into the G20 policy consensus. On the issues of reforming international financial regulation and institutions， China has successfully shaped the G20 agenda， making Chinas initiatives and plans embodied in the guiding principles of global economic governance established by the G20 policy consensus.

At the 2016 Hangzhou Summit， China focused on the two key issues of “growth” and “development”， putting forward Chinas plans for reform-driven growth， innovation-driven growth and openness-driven growth， and proposed that G20 members formulate national plans for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and summarize them into an overall G20 action plan. At the 2020 Riyadh Summit， President Xi Jinping advocated that G20 members carry out discussions and formulate action plans on topics including building a global firewall against COVID-19， ensuring the smooth functioning of the global economy， harnessing the role of the digital economy， and pursuing more inclusive development. On these key topics， China proposed that the WHO be supported in distributing vaccines fairly and efficiently， a global mechanism on the mutual recognition of health certificates based on nucleic acid test results in the form of internationally accepted QR codes be built， data security cooperation be enhanced， digital infrastructure be strengthened， the Debt Service Suspension Initiative be extended， and the sound development of the digital economy be promoted. All those proposals have constituted China plans for global anti-pandemic cooperation.

In terms of mechanism building， China has actively promoted the regular convening of G20 special ministerial meetings and the enhancement of G20 representativeness.

During the Hangzhou Summit， in view of the rising trend of trade protectionism in the world economy and the continuous slowdown of investment， China proposed the regular meetings of trade ministers and the establishment of a working group on trade and investment， which achieved enthusiastic response from other G20 members. In 2016， the first meeting of G20 trade ministers was convened， and the first statement of G20 trade ministers was released. A G20 trade and investment working group was set up， and a fixed mechanism of 3 or 4 meetings annually was determined. That serves as a strong support for G20s governance in trade and investment， and helps improve G20s implementation capability. After the Hangzhou Summit， the two fixed mechanisms of G20 trade ministers meeting and finance ministers and central bank governors meeting have formed coordinating effects in trade， investment， finance， banking and other important issues， and promoted the implementation of G20 summit results through regular discussion and evaluation.

During the Hangzhou Summit， China as the host invited the ASEAN rotating president Laos， the Group of 77 rotating chairman Thailand， the African Union rotating president Chad， the NEPAD rotating chairman Senegal as well as Kazakhstan and Egypt as two developing countries with high representativeness to attend the Summit， making the invited parties more representative in composition. The participation of the rotating presidents of major developing country groups in the G20 summit allows the G20 decision-making better reflect the interests of developing countries， and further enables greater support rendered by developing countries to the agreements reached at the summit. This will help the global governance within the G20 framework become more effective and inclusive， thus laying a more solid global consensus foundation for the G20 to transform into a long-term governance mechanism.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread， the global public health system and economic and social development suffered tremendous impact， unilateralism and trade protectionism constantly rose， China， at the 2020 Riyadh Summit， stressed the importance of strengthening the UN-centred international system and vowed to support the UN in more effectively building global consensus， mobilising global resources and coordinating global actions， so as to play a bigger role in promoting world peace and development. China will firmly safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading system that is transparent， non-discriminatory， open and inclusive， and support the reform of the WTO to enhance its effectiveness and authority. China will promote free trade， oppose unilateralism and protectionism. Meanwhile， China actively advocates enhancing the role of the WHO， improving pandemic preparedness and response， forging a strong shield for human health and safety， and building a global community of health for all.

The global challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed the global governance deficit， China once again made a strong voice at the Riyadh Summit to make efforts for building the world peace， contributing to global development and safeguarding the international order， and jointly promote the global governance system with all parties.