Investing in resilient growth(3)

ROUND-TABLE MEETING: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Ninth G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, on November 15 (XINHUA)

"This is the first time that the communiqué of a G20 summit has criticized the United States for failing to implement reforms of global governance institutions," Chen said. "The current global governance institutions have obvious defects. All G20 members agreed on a reform package to the IMF and the World Bank, yet the IMF's 2010 quota has continually been delayed by the United States."

The United States holds decisive power in IMF, for the country is the largest shareholder of the organization, owning 17 percent of total quotas. In January, the US Congress again declined to implement the IMF's 2010 quota.

"I am not optimistic about the ballot result in the US Congress regarding the IMF's 2010 quota," Xiong told Beijing Review.

US President Barack Obama participated in making the governance reform plan at the G20 summit in 2010; however, conservative members of the congress are opposed to the United States fulfilling the pledge. In addition, Republicans took control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in US mid-term elections. Political partisanship in the United States will make the IMF's 2010 quota prospects even more remote, Xiong said.

"Meanwhile, emerging economies have not halted their steps to pursue a fair and rational international economic order," Xiong added.

BRICS countries agreed to establish the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement at the Fortaleza summit in July. The long-awaited achievement signaled a big step forward in the group's role in global financial governance, which will also be a necessary supplement to current international finance institutions.

"Reform of global economic governance will be a long-term task. The communiqué is helpful for pressuring the United States to quicken steps on this issue," Chen said. "If this does not happen by the year's end, China hopes the IMF will build on its existing work and stand ready with options for next steps."

China to play host

In Brisbane, Xi announced that China will host the G20 summit for the first time in 2016.

China will become the second East Asian country to host the summit. The fifth G20 summit was held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2010. G20 members take turns hosting the annual summit, and Australia had the opportunity to nominate an Asian country to host in 2016.

Japan was also willing to host the G20 summit in 2016. During the Brisbane summit, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, "After extensive consultation with the views of other member states, China won overwhelming support in 2016 to be the summit host country."

Many observers believe that China's leadership should match its economic power, and hosting the G20 summit in 2016 is an ideal occasion to demonstrate this, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Xi said that China is confident in fulfilling its role as the chair of the 2016 summit and a member of the management troika of the year 2015 and 2017.

In addition to being an economic heavyweight, China has made a great contribution to the work of the G20 mechanism by putting forward constructive proposals.

Vice Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao said at a press conference on November 15 that the Brisbane G20 summit received over 1,000 suggestions of reforms and measures, 15 percent of which were contributed by China.

Despite the delayed IMF reform, China has continued to add funds to the organization, Zhu said.

China plays an important role in mending the gap between advanced and emerging economies on reforming global governance, said Zhu Jiejin, an associate professor at Shanghai-based Fudan University.

Advanced and emerging economies have common views on economic growth, but they have different ideas on reforming global institutions. As they recover from the financial crisis, advanced economies are losing interest in reforming global governance institutions, Zhu Jiejin said.

China consistently calls to safeguard interests of emerging economies and enhance their roles in global economic governance. Moreover, China serves as a bridge to promote both advanced and emerging economies in reaching a consensus in the G20, he added.