Argentine media highlight China's hosting of G20 Summit

BUENOS AIRES - Argentine media on Tuesday spotlighted China's role as the host of the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) Summit, as President Mauricio Macri said he would take the message that his country was ready "to work together" with fellow members of the bloc.

Just hours before his departure, Macri told reporters he would attend the September 4-5 gathering in Hangzhou "with humility."

"I am going to tell them that Argentinians understand ... that our future depends on us and on our capacity to work together. We are no longer going to go to these gatherings to tell them what it is that they have to do, but to humbly tell them that we want to work together with them," said Macri.

Meanwhile, the daily La Nacion said in an article headlined "China Takes Center Stage Again," that "the Asian giant wants to relaunch the forum and give emerging countries a greater role."

"The countdown has begun: in five days China will play host to the heads of state and government of the G20, a kind of international club that concentrates 85 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of (global) trade and two-thirds of the population of the planet," the author wrote.

The article, in the daily's business section, reported on a seminar offered by China's Ambassador to Argentina Yang Wanming on the "Opportunities and challenges for South-South cooperation within the framework of the G20," which was organized by the embassy in conjunction with the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (Cippec).

At the seminar, the ambassador highlighted the central themes of the summit - including finding a new path to growth, devising effective global financial governance, and promoting inclusive development - and underscored the need for consensus to advance on any of those issues.

While the gathering of the world's 20 largest economies is set to tackle such problems as the global economic slowdown and financial market instability, the daily said "it is clear that the summit ... is an exceptional opportunity for China to reaffirm its global economic and political leadership."

Ambassador Yang noted that China and Latin America's emerging economies, such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, "have similar positions towards international issues related to global financial and economic governance."

"We are willing to strengthen the communication and coordination of policies with emerging economies such as Latin America in the framework of the G20, to acquire the right to a larger voice and greater institutional power, and inject new vitality ... in South-South cooperation," said Yang.

According to the daily, "with just days to go before the summit, the G20 is shaping into an exceptional showcase for China to strengthen its global leadership."

Argentina is to host the G20 Summit in 2018.