Roundup: China's G20 presidency aligns with Turkey's priorities

The emerging priorities for the Chinese presidency of the G20 Summit next year appear to align with the main themes of the current host, Turkey.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's call for establishing a fair, inclusive and efficient global economic governance and promoting a long-term and stable growth of the global economy reflects the goals set by Ankara for the current summit -- inclusiveness, implementation and investment.

Inclusiveness suggests an inclusive growth while investment indicates creating more jobs and boosting global trade and supporting innovation. Implementation refers to the successful practical steps to put summit decisions into effect.

Both countries have already signaled that they were committed to working together on both multilateral and bilateral frameworks to realize these goals that will benefit emerging economies and developing nations.

In a ceremony marking the takeover of the chairmanship of the Business 20 (or B20) from his Turkish counterpart Rifat Hisarciklioglu, B20 China Chair Yu Ping said China would proceed on the path set by Turkey.

Yu said the policies suggested by Turkey were very comprehensive, adding that "China's priorities as the host of the G20 next year are to maintain what Turkey has put forward so far."

Turkey and China are part of a "troika" made up of the current, immediate past and next hosts of the G20. They have already been working together to hammer out G20 priorities and objectives.

During a meeting Saturday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya before the summit, Xi called for strengthened strategic communication with Turkey to better coordinate each other's development strategy.

Xi said China is ready to maintain close coordination with Turkey to increase the G20's role in global economic governance.

The G20 summit in Antalya comes at a time when the world economy is facing uncertainty, slow growth, differentiated policies and currency troubles.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, who is responsible for the country's economic affairs, said Saturday that China has assured the G20 group that it would not take the path of competitive currency devaluation.

"There is no expectation of a currency war," he said.

Stressing that governments should refrain from raising trade barriers to protect domestic industries, Yilmaz said that economic, monetary and financial policies should be coordinated and supplement each other.

This fully agrees with the Chinese approach, given that China and other emerging economies had served as the locomotive for world economic growth for several years following the global financial crisis in 2008. They may be crucial in the face of the current challenges too.

Xi's call for member states to take concrete steps in order to address the most prominent problems facing the global economy and promote a long-term and stable growth of the global economy is shared by Turkish officials.

"The summit agenda includes the current state of the global economy, sustainable growth, development and climate change, investment, trade and energy," Ibrahim Kalin, President Erdogan's spokesperson, said.

Kalin noted that the G20 summit in Antalya is expected to prepare the ground for a roadmap seeking ways to increase global economic resilience, increase trade and investment, help low-income countries and contain the growing threat of climate change.

That roadmap is similar to Xi's proposal that the G20 mechanism should be improved, and that its status as a main platform of international economic cooperation should be consolidated so as to establish a fairer, more inclusive and more efficient global economic governance.

Turkey has communicated its main priority on the agenda of its G20 presidency to developing countries and emerging markets and is "looking to reform global governance to provide more inclusiveness in the market," Turkish analyst Sadik Unay said.

Xi and Erdogan have signed seven agreements Saturday, including a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 as a trade and infrastructure network. It will connect Asia to Europe and Africa through the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Erdogan hailed Xi's message that all parties at the G20 should handle differences properly with an attitude of mutual understanding and mutual respect, which demonstrated solidarity and coordination among the G20 members. Endi