G20 chair and globalization's future

We hope the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, is a success, but if the main aspiration of the summit is to save globalization, it may be too late.

The rise of populism and protectionism in the advanced economies, and the broad upsurge of inward-looking, socio-economic anger that fed the Brexit vote are the latest signs that there is no longer broad public support for the previous globalization agenda, especially if it also entails financial volatility and instability.

So where does this leave China as the G20 chair and the host of this year's summit? To whom can China turn to as it tries to ward off protectionism with, let alone promote, the global economic openness and integration agenda?

Except for India, China's BRICS partners are in the recovery or re-stabilization mode. Growth in Asia remains steady, but the Asian members of the G20 alone are not enough to form a coalition, especially because Japan remains opposed to China-led efforts and has serious doubts about the G20.

China's growth has slowed, though it remains steady. Where is there appetite for pushing for global openness and integration other than at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development?

The challenge for China is that it has assumed the G20 chair at a time when the previous globalization agenda has run its course. On a global scale, the perception and reality for many are that the upside benefits no longer exceed the downside.

A new global economic agenda is needed. So China would do well if it speaks to and supports new global aspirations and different models of growth.

Gregory Chin is an associate professor of Political Economy at York University, Canada, and Hugo Dobson is a professor of Japan's International Relations at the University of Sheffield, UK.