INFOGRAPHIC - G20 leaders to meet amid intensifying trade war

By Riyaz ul Khaliq and Maimaitiming Yilixiati

ANKARA (AA) – The Japanese port city of Osaka will be hosting the world’s most powerful leaders on June 28 and 29 for the 14th G20 Summit.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be welcoming leaders from the 19 member countries and the European Union.

Leaders of the U.S., Russia and China plan to hold sideline meetings respectively to discuss contentious issues like Mideast policies and the ongoing tariff war between Washington and Beijing, which could cast a shadow over the summit.

All eyes will be on a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who are expected to sign a deal to end or at least suspend the trade war which has engulfed the world economy.

Trump will also hold a sideline meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Ankara's deal to purchase Russia’s S-400 missile defense system which has caused relations to deteriorate between Turkey and the U.S.

Erdogan is also expected to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the main event.

The G20 countries account for 85% of global gross domestic product (GDP), almost 75% of all international trade and around two-thirds of the world’s population.

As a forum for governments and central bank governors founded in 1999, it aims to discuss policies to promote financial stability, free trade and environmental issues at its annual meeting of heads of state.

It consists of 19 member states including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea as well as the European Union (EU), which is represented by the EU Commission and EU Central Bank.

Following the inaugural summit of the G20 in November 2008 in Washington, D.C., summit meetings were held semiannually until 2010 and annually from 2011 onwards.

Turkey hosted the event in 2015, followed by China in 2016, Germany in 2017 and Argentina in 2018.

The topics of the annual summit vary depending on major global issues and crises at the time.

Although the G20 is considered the premier forum for international economic cooperation, recent summits have focused not only on the macroeconomy and trade but also on a wide range of global issues which have an immense impact on the global economy, such as development, climate change and energy, health, counter-terrorism and migration and refugees.

Strengthening the international order for free and fair trade, digitalization of the economy and tackling global environmental challenges will be the main points of discussion at this year’s summit.

However, the global economy, trade and investment, innovation, the environment and energy, employment, women’s empowerment, development and health will be among the other issues that will be addressed in Japan.

The host country of the G20 summit leads the group over the course of one year from December through the following November as the G20 presidency. The G20 presidency also organizes relevant ministerial and working group meetings.

Saudi Arabia is expected to host the next summit in November 2020.