Full coverage: G20 Hangzhou Summit

The last round of G20 summit consultations started on Thursday in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou. Representatives from G20 members, guest countries, and international organizations are gathered there.

2016 The Fourth G20 Sherpa Meeting is held in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 1, 2016. The G20 summit will be held in Hangzhou City, east China, on Sept. 4 to 5. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

More cooperation is needed in the final stage of the preparations. Chinese G20 Sherpa and Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong attended Thursday’s consultations.

Li said, “The presidency expects colleagues to join hands and produce a strong and fruitful communique.”

The theme of this year’s summit is “Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy.” The summit comes at a time when the world economy continues to struggle with a fragile recovery.

And for the first time, China is putting innovation at the top of the agenda for a G20 summit. China is striving to drive growth with innovation-driven strategies and structural reform. This will break the cycle of relying solely on fiscal stimulus and easy monetary policy. Representatives echoed this during the meetings.

Meetings will continue today. Representatives plan to come up with a communique, and submit it for leaders’ approval.

The 2016 G20 Summit will be held in Hangzhou from Sept. 4 to 5. It is the 11th G20 meeting and the first ever G20 summit to be held in China.