The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier international forum for cooperation on global economic governance. The members of the G20 are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union. G20 members account for 86 per cent of the world economy, 78 per cent of global trade, and two-thirds of the world's population, including more than half of the world's poor. G20 leaders meet annually at the G20 Summit. Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meet regularly. G20 ministerial meetings (e.g. trade, energy, employment, agriculture) also occur at leaders’ request. G20 Engagement groups, civil society, business and labor leaders, think-tanks, women and youth regularly meet in parallel with the G20 and provide recommendations to the leaders’ Summit.
2016 Summit, Hangzhou, China
The President or host of the G20 changes each year. China currently holds the Presidency, taking over from Turkey after the Antalya Summit. In December 2015, President Xi Jinping announced the theme for the 2016 leaders’ Summit in Hangzhou (4-5 September 2016) will be “an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy”. China wants the G20 to find new drivers of growth, make global economic and financial governance more efficient, support robust international trade and investment, and ensure inclusive and interconnected development.
As one of the key areas of focus for its G20 host year, China has elevated the trade agenda in 2016 and established the G20 Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) to enhance trade and investment cooperation in the G20. China. In 2016 China is prioritising
a strategy for global trade growth, which identifies reform actions to provide an enabling policy environment for trade; action to promote global investment policy; actions to support the multilateral trading system and the promotion of inclusive global value chains. China has held two meetings of the TIWG (28-29 January and 7-8 April) and will host a G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Shanghai on 9-10 July.
China, as 2016 host, will provide updated information and documents during 2016 on the G20 website.
Australian Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer media release G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (April 2016)
2015 Summit, Antalya, Turkey
The Antalya Summit 15-16 November 2015, was organised around the ‘three I’s’ of the Turkish Presidency: Inclusiveness, Implementation (of G20 previous commitments), and Investment for Growth. The 2015 G20 agenda was influenced by important 2015 multilateral discussions on :
The Antalya communique has a strong focus on inclusiveness, focused on G20 outcomes that could make a difference to developing countries. G20 leaders also discussed terrorism and the refugee crisis and presented a unified political message on both issues.
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2014 Summit, Brisbane, Australia
Australia held the G20 Presidency in 2014 culminating in the Brisbane Summit on 15-16 November 2014. At the Summit, leaders agreed to substantial actions to lift global growth and job opportunities and to make the global economy more resilient. Leaders agreed an ambitious goal to lift the G20’s GDP by at least an additional two per cent by 2018, which if realised will add more than US$2 trillion to the global economy and create millions of jobs.
Actions to achieve this goal were set out in the Brisbane Action Plan and in country growth strategies. The G20 endorsed the Global Infrastructure Initiative and established a Global Infrastructure Hub, now located in Sydney. The G20 also committed to reduce the gap in workforce participation rates between men and women by 25 per cent by 2025, aiming to bring more than 100 million women into the labour force in G20 countries.
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G20 and related links