Hu's visit

Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to Canada from June 23-27 and attend the fourth Group of 20 (G20) summit to be held in Toronto.

Hu is invited by the Canadian Governor-General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

China has four main expectations for the upcoming G20 summit. Firstly, regarding the current European sovereign debt crises, China hopes the member countries will enhance communication and coordination on the macro-economic policies.

Secondly, China expects the G20 summit to push the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finish its quota reform that would give more representation and voice to emerging markets and developing countries.

China also hopes the Toronto summit will improve the international financial system and deepen the reform of international supervision system.

Thirdly, China hopes the summit will pay more attention to development problems and provide political support to the United Nation's high-level meeting on Millennium Development Goals in September this year.

Fourthly, China hopes the summit will condemn trade protectionism and promote the completion of the Doha round.

What is the G20

The Group of Twenty (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 15-16, 1999, hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.

G20 membership

The G20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries:

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America.

The European Union, who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank, is the 20th member of the G20.

G20 chair

Unlike international institutions such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), IMF or World Bank, the G20 (like the G7) has no permanent staff of its own. The G20 chair rotates between members, and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries each year. In 2010 the G20 chair is the Republic of Korea, and in 2011 it will be France. The chair is part of a revolving three-member management Troika of past, present and future chairs. The incumbent chair establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration of its term, which coordinates the group's work and organizes its meetings. The role of the Troika is to ensure continuity in the G20's work and management across host years.

2010 G20 events

• Deputies Meeting, February 27-28, Korea. (Incheon Songdo)
• Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, April 23, USA. (Washington, D.C)
• Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, June 3-5, Korea. (Busan)
• G-20 Summit Meeting, June 26-27, Canada. (Toronto)
• Deputies Meeting, September, Korea. (Gwangju)
• Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, October, USA. (Washington, D.C)
• Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, N/A, Korea. (Gyeongju)
• G-20 Summit Meeting, November 11-12, Korea (Seoul)

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