New | B20 urges governments to tear down trade barriers; China under fire for ‘unwelcoming’ policies
WTO’s trade facilitation agreement could cut trade costs by 12.5 to 17.5 per cent
Before Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies sat down for their annual confab this weekend, 800 businesspeople from the same member countries called the B20 set a sombre tone for them: back up your words with deeds and tear down trade barriers.
The G20 governments must do more to free up trade and resist the increasing opposition to globalisation as trade ministers have already committed to ratifying the World Trade Organisation’s trade facilitation agreement by the end of this year.
“A fundamental challenge we are facing is to restore public trust,” said the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as the B20 conference wrapped up in Hangzhou on Sunday. “Protectionism is a road we could not afford to go down.”
The B20 met at the golden globe-shaped Hotel InterContinental on the banks of the Qiantang river, which is opposite the Hangzhou International Expo Centre where G20 leaders are meeting on Sunday and Monday.
The B20’s two-day meeting yielded a total of 20 policy recommendations for government leaders, including the removal of trade barriers, optimising financial regulations and facilitating investments. They were submitted to Xi during the meeting’s opening.
The reality of global trade is more dire than the surroundings of the conference centres amid Hangzhou’s verdant scenery.
