With globalization threatened, Group of 20 focuses on defense

CHENGDU, China—Finance chiefs from the world’s biggest economies signaled escalating concern about a wave of anti-globalization sentiment that threatens core principles long embraced by the group.

Meeting in China one month after the vote in Britain to leave the European Union, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 put a stepped-up emphasis on fiscal and structural policies to boost growth, and renewed a pledge to promote inclusiveness.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, in whose country millions of people have embraced the protectionist calls of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, said the British vote had escalated the importance of inclusive economic expansion.

“There was a consensus around the table that more needs to be done to share the benefits of growth and economic openness broadly within and among countries,” International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement after the two-day G-20 meeting ended Sunday.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, warned Friday that there was a very loud rejection of globalization in the West.

While no G-20 member promised any specific new action in Chengdu, many had been taking steps before to the gathering. Japan is in the midst of compiling an extra budget, with calls from some lawmakers for support for lower-income households. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also called for bolstering wages of workers on temporary contracts.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond indicated openness to a more generous budget Friday, when he told the BBC that the country K. could “reset fiscal policy” if necessary.

Lew said the U.S. economy is in strong shape, and held off making any new commitments.

With some exceptions—notably Germany—the result is a reversal of years of antagonism over whether to pursue pro-growth policies vs. reining in debt. Lew said in Chengdu that there’s a broad consensus the world needs growth, not austerity. The need for inclusive growth was given prominence in the second paragraph of the G-20 communique.

China, the world’s second-biggest economy, has plenty of reason to ensure inclusive growth, as its slowing expansion risks eroding the income gains needed to spur consumption and services. The government has been pumping cheap credit into banks, companies and local governments. In June alone an additional $244 billion in new credit flowed into the economy.

South Korea, Asia’s No. 4 economy, has announced a $9.7 billion supplementary budget to support the job market. Canada is adding $8.38 billion in annual spending for the fiscal year that began April 1 and will run deficits totaling about $90 billion over six years.