China’s Xi announces steps to support ‘Global South’ at G-20 summit

RIO DE JANEIRO - Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a raft of measures designed to support the Global South at a gathering of leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies in Rio de Janeiro, China’s state television CCTV reported on Nov 18.

In his first remarks at the G-20 summit, Mr Xi said China would support global development with eight actions, including building a “high-quality” Belt and Road Initiative, his signature foreign policy plan that directs large Chinese investments to infrastructure projects in the developing world.

He also announced that China, along with Brazil, South Africa and the African Union (AU), was launching an Open Science International Cooperation Initiative designed to funnel scientific and technological innovations to the Global South.

“China supports the G-20 in carrying out practical cooperation for the benefit of the Global South,” Mr Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua, adding that China’s imports from developing countries are expected to top US$8 trillion (S$10.7 trillion) between now and 2030.

“China has always been a member of the Global South, a reliable and long-term partner of developing countries, and an activist and doer in support of global development,” Mr Xi added.

“China does not seek to be a single player, but rather hopes that 100 flowers will blossom and that it will work hand in hand with the vast number of developing countries to achieve modernisation.”

Mr Xi’s focus on the Global South comes as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his peers from developing economies push for a more central role in multilateral talks. The two leaders will meet in Brasilia on Nov 20, as Mr Xi wraps up his stay in Brazil with a state visit.

Brazil has taken strides to elevate voices of the Global South by insisting that the AU should be a formal member of the G-20, citing the example of the European Union.

The AU is participating fully in this year’s G-20 summit on behalf of African nations.

While the rise of the Global South in the G-20 has caused some discomfort among richer countries, it presents an opportunity for China, given its close economic and political ties with most of the developing world, particularly in Africa, where it is a major lender.

The G-20 was launched after the 2007-08 financial crisis to include important emerging economies in talks that had been confined to the Group of Seven industrialised nations, and has become a key venue for economic and financial cooperation.

It represents around 85 per cent of global gross domestic product, over 75 per cent of global trade and about two-thirds of the world population.

The concept of the Global South emerged to designate developing, emerging or lower-income countries, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, and replace the term “Third World” after the 1945-90 Cold War. REUTERS