List of attending foreign leaders unveiled
Beijing unveiled a list of foreign leaders and international agency chiefs invited to attend the G20 Leaders Summit in eastern China’s Hangzhou city next month, and many leaders and their envoys have pledged to help China to make the summit a success.
Leaders of G20 members set to arrive in Hangzhou include US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Republic of Korea President Park Geunhye, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Wednesday.
During his meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tokyo on Wednesday, Abe said the upcoming summit is of great significance for the sustainable development of the
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global economy.
Japan hopes that the summit will be a success and is ready to provide assistance within its capacity, Abe added.
The ROK Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told Wang on Wednesday in a meeting in Tokyo that Seoul will “fully support” China’s hosting the summit, and it will work with Beijing and help ensure the summit is a contributor to world economic growth.
The heads of international organizations attending include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Lu said.
The leaders of guest countries attending the events include Chad’s President Idriss Deby Itno, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachit and Senegalese President Macky Sall.
Chad takes the chairmanship of the African Union this year, while Laos will take the chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Thailand will chair the Group of 77 this year.
The Hangzhou summit has invited the largest number of developing countries in G20 history, said Lu, adding that “it represents the inclusiveness of the meeting with both developed and developing countries sitting together as equal partners”.
In addition to the five guest countries mentioned above that have been confirmed by Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier this month, Lu added that other leaders invited include Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.