The G20's Leaders' Communique Hangzhou Summit, published on Tuesday, made the uncommon decision of including a proposal from the private sector, namely establishing an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP). [Special coverage]
The official and full-text communique came one day after G20 members wrapped up their Hangzhou summit on Monday. It consists of 48 paragraphs, written with consensus from the group's members.
In the 38th paragraph, the proposal of establishing the eWTP is mentioned.
"We welcome the B20's interest to strengthen digital trade and other work and take note of it's initiative on an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP)," the communique wrote.
The eWTP was proposed by Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commercial giant Alibaba, aims to set up an open platform for private enterprises and coordination among international organizations, governments and social groups which focus on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and trade as well.
According to Ma, who also chairs the Business 20 (B20) SME development taskforce, the eWTP will help SMES, even individuals, to participate in the global economy through the internet, Ma said.
Headquartered in Hangzhou, the host city of the 11th G20 summit, Alibaba is one of the world's largest e-commerce companies and one of the several Chinese companies with substantial influence on the global stage.
The inclusion of Ma's proposal in the communique reflects the growing influence of Chinese enterprises in global governance as well their input in shaping global trade regulations.
