Obama says G20 has made things better

As the G20 Summit in China concludes, which represented a first for hosts China, and also the first gathering of world leaders after the European Union referendum outcome in June and before the Presidential Election in the United States this November, let’s take a brief look at the main talking points with notable attention surrounding UK Prime Minister Theresa May who was participating in her first visit to China as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following former Prime Minister David Cameron stepping down in the aftermath of the European Union vote.

Beijing made trade a theme of the gathering, but faces complaints that a flood of low-priced Chinese steel into global markets threatens USA and European jobs, propelling the rise of political movements that promise to curb trade.

Opening the two-day meeting in this lakeside city southwest of Shanghai, Xi called for more innovation to spur economic growth and reforms to global financial and economic management.

Obama, speaking Sunday at the G20 summit in China, said he does not think any new deal would last long enough for a political resolution in Syria. Countries need to get the trade growth up in order to help global economy to grow, said Denton.

In a speech on Saturday, President Xi Jinping assured global business leaders with a vision that China, having reached a new historical starting point, will integrate itself into a new global growth blueprint.

These initiatives, a major step forward to improve the worldwide trade and investment system, will help boost growth if better implemented, said Yang Fanxin, an economist with Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.

In a communique issued several hours after the close of the summit, the G20 leaders warned that global growth was weaker than anticipated, with downside risks continuing, and repeated the acknowledgement that monetary policy alone could not create balanced growth. “Our response to climate change bears on the future of our people and the well-being of mankind”, Xi said.

The president was asked at a news conference Monday about Colin Kaepernick’s protest gesture.

“We could, at least for a period of time, agree on mutual and active efforts to recover the situation in Syria”, the president said, stressing that any moves should be taken in consultation with the Syrian government.

Obama described his meeting with Putin as “businesslike” and said they discussed ongoing negotiations between their top diplomats over Syria.

But U.S. and other officials say they plan to bring up Chinese industrial overcapacity and other potentially thorny issues. Washington has hiked import duties by 500 percent on Chinese steel to offset what it says are improper subsidies.

The joint statement calls for formation of a steel forum under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to study excess production capacity.

“This is a global problem, but with a specific Chinese dimension we have to address”, Juncker said.

“We recognise the significant burden that the drug trade plays not just in the Philippines but around the world, and fighting narco-trafficking is tough but we will always assert the need to have due process and to engage in that fight against drugs in a way that’s consistent with basic worldwide norms”.

Juncker defended the EU’s tax order on Apple against USA criticism and rejected suggestions that the company was targeted because it is American. “After that Obama and Putin held a one-on-one meeting behind closed doors”, he said, according to TASS. “Everyone understands that it’s irrelevant to return back to the Cold War era”, he said.

Duterte, who had been scheduled to meet Obama on Tuesday on the summit’s sidelines, has been under intense global scrutiny over the more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users killed since he took office.

Putin for his part focused on the economic and trade relationship between Argentina and Russia, suggesting that specific deals between the giant Russian energy corporation Gazprom and its Argentine counterpart in YPF could be imminent.