Group of Two: Obama, Hu to meet in Beijing
02 Apr 2009
Perhaps, the real gainers of the G-20 summit may be the G-2 – the US and China – the world's top debtor and creditor country, respectively. President Barack Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao will meet in Beijing this year in a bid to improve economic relations between the two nations, which are often marred by their sharp differences over human rights, military, trade, market and currencies.
US and Chinese negotiators are to meet in Washington this summer, signalling that despite these differences, the United States and China believe that increased economic cooperation is key to their own and the world's economic recovery.
Obama, speaking before his meeting with Hu in London, said the US-China relationship "will help to set the stage for how the world deals with a whole host of challenges in the years to come."
Hu also echoed Obama's views, saying a sound US-China relationship would "contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region and in the world at large."
The US also knows well that China, the world's third largest economy and the only major one still growing at a fast pace, is critical to resolving all outstanding international issues, including the economic and financial crisis, nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran, turmoil in Pakistan and Afghanistan and climate change.
For China, which is the largest creditor to the United States and nurtures a rising trade surplus with the US, the fortunes of both the countries are intertwined. China also knows that both countries have also to take a larger, more confident role in world economic affairs.
The US, which most of the developing countries and several major European countries blame for the global economic meltdown, remains the largest market for China while the US is looking to China with its huge forex reserves to to provide more stimulus.
"For the world's economy to recover, these two economic powerhouses must cooperate and become the engine for the Group of 20. Without a strong G-2, the G-20 will disappoint," wrote World Bank president Robert Zoellick and World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin in the Washington Post last month.
Elevating US-China equation could, however, marginalise US allies in Asia and Europe and allow China to ignore US pressure to make changes in human rights, military and trade policies.
