China says G20 to focus on economy, not political issues

China today said next month's G-20 summit will focus on boosting global economic growth and other financial issues rather than discuss contentious political matters like the disputed South China Sea.

The high-profile meeting of the world's 20 biggest economies in the Chinese city of Hangzhou from September 4 to 5 will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Barack Obama and other world leaders.

"This meeting, this G20 summit in Hangzhou, has as its theme economic growth," Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong told reporters here, pointing out that different countries may have their own agendas of their concerns at such gatherings.

The theme of the summit will be 'Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy'.

China has been maintaining that the South China Sea issue, which acquired a new dimension after an international tribunal struck down Beijing's claims over the area, should be resolved directly by parties concerned and not by outsiders.

The Group of 20 which was formed in 1999 consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).

Yi Gang, a vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said the Hangzhou gathering will focus on stimulating sluggish global economic growth with policies promoting inclusive trade and development of robust financial markets.

Addressing the special briefing on the upcoming summit, Ye said, "we need to instill market confidence and ensure there are no competitive devaluations but rather let the market determine exchange rates." Besides the G-20 summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping will also host an informal meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) leaders, and deliver a keynote speech on the opening ceremony of the Business 20 (B20) summit, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Ahead of the summit, Hangzhou city is virtually being sealed off to maintain security.

Besides the world leaders, a large contingents of world media was expected to converge in Hangzhou to cover the event.

Modi, who was expected to arrive late on September 3 would leave on September 5, the last day of the summit.

While officials say his meetings on the sidelines of the summit were being worked out, Modi is expected to meet Xi, Obama and other leaders separately.

Xi is also expected to take part in the BRICS summit to be held in Goa in October.