This aerial photo taken on May 24, 2016 shows the night view of the West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.(Xinhua file photo)
The Group of 20 summit, which was born out of the financial crisis, has been looked up to once again in prescribing new ways out of stagnant growth and low trade flows in today's world.
This will be a pragmatic summit, said Australian think tank Lowy Institute for International Policy.
It hoped China, as the host of summit in September, will be able to set the tone for the G20 to return to the economic arena and face up to the world economic challenges.
INNOVATION
The theme of this year's G20 summit is "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy."
Innovation has been a hot topic for governments around the world and is a key theme of this year's summit.
"There has been innovation in China for thousands and thousands of years when China and India dominated the world economy up to 1700 so it's not a new thing for China," said Tim Harcourt, an economist with the University of New South Wales.
"I think it's just something that the G20 wants to talk about to disseminate the message ... I think the summit does help create an environment for it," said Harcourt.
In the long term, innovation is the most reliable force propelling economic development, said David Gosset, founder of the Euro-China Forum. "China does provide a sound platform for discussing sci-tech innovation and its future influence."
In preparations for the summit, China last week held a G20 "innovation for growth" special conference in Beijing focusing on innovation, new industrial revolution and digital economy.
Andrew Wyckoff, director of Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, lauded China for shifting the focus of G20 from efforts to "repair the scar of crisis to now, looking more forward at how do we get strong and resilient growth."
Wyckoff believed growth based on innovation and technology will be stronger, and it increases productivity and promotes social welfare, and in many cases, it's much more less demanding of the environment.
