Leaders of the world’s largest economies are on the defensive over slower growth, social inequity and corporate tax avoidance as they gather for their annual G20 summit, with many acknowledging that they have to work harder than ever before to sell the benefits of globalisation.
“Many of our citizens are frustrated by the pace of globalisation and feel they are not experiencing the benefits of international trade,” Theresa May, the British prime minister, said at a briefing just ahead of the summit’s formal opening in Hangzhou in eastern China. “This is an issue we can’t afford to ignore.”
Mrs May was echoed by President Barack Obama of the US and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, even as the leaders of the world’s two largest economies set a positive example for global co-operation with their joint ratification of the Paris accord on climate change.