Backgrounder: Major topics of G20 Pittsburgh Summit

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Leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) would meet in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday to coordinate their positions on global economic recovery, financial regulatory reform and world trade issues.

On the global economic recovery, leaders from the G20 will coordinate on their macro economic policies to insure the world economy will grow on a sustainable and more balanced pattern. The exit strategy of government and central interventions will be discussed during the summit.

Early this month, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, reached a consensus that, although the darkest time of global economic recession in the past 70 years has passed, the stimulus policy should continue until recovery is confirmed.

On the international financial regulatory reform, the leaders will talk a wide range of issues, including strengthening the global capital framework, making global liquidity more robust, reducing moral hazard and strengthening capacity for cross-border resolution, strengthening accounting standards, improving compensation practices, expanding oversight of the financial system, and adherence to international standards.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday before departing for the summit, the Group of 20 summit will be key for financial reforms, warning that efforts to make the world less prone to financial disasters may lose momentum.

Early this month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy along with Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote a joint letter to the chairman of the European Council, demanding a united voice of EU over restriction of bankers' incomes and strikes upon tax havens.

Sarkozy also promised to push forward restriction on bankers' bonus at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, calling for sanctions against those uncooperative countries, in a French television interview aired on Wednesday night.

It's still unclear if U.S. President Barack Obama would reach agreement with his European counterparts.

On the world trade issues, the meeting will focus on how to avoid protectionism under the circumstance that the future of the world economic recovery is uncertain. The leaders will also discuss how to push the WTO Doha round talk make progress.

India, China and several countries have urged the G-20 summit to come out strongly against protectionism in trade while continuing reform of international financial institutions to give greater voice to developing countries.

On the development of the poorer countries, the summit will talk about how to support the less developed countries who are the victims of the global financial crisis and economic recession.

According to a recent World Bank report that more than 40 poor countries are still mired in an economic downturn and struggling to finance key needs such as health and education despite signs of recovery in some industrialized and emerging economies. World Bank calls on G20 leaders not to leave the poorest countries behind as they focus on ways to keep the global recovery going.

The G20 Pittsburgh summit is the third round meeting of leaders of the rich developed and developing countries, which representing85 percent of the world economy to tackle the global financial crisis since last September. The first two rounds of G20 summit was held in Washington and London in November 2008 and April 2009 respectively.

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