Read “U.S.-China Study Group on G-20 Reform: Final Report” in full here.
Read “How the United States and China Can Strengthen the G-20, and Vice Versa” here.
Washington, D.C. — Today, ahead of the G-20 talks in Moscow, the Center for American Progress released “U.S.-China Study Group on G-20 Reform: Final Report,” produced in conjunction with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations and the Stanley Foundation. This report evaluates the role of the G-20 in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship and its influence on the G-20, while providing recommendations that could improve the efficacy of the G-20 process.
With greater cooperation through the G-20, this report finds an opportunity for China and the United States to further strengthen that forum and the relationship between the two countries. The Chinese and American experts participating in the study group agreed to 20 points, which include:
- Ideally, over the long term, there should be a process for refreshing membership to preserve legitimacy.
- The G-20 should step up its outreach efforts even further—including a focus on countries that offer special insight on specific issues as well as continued, deepened engagement with relevant stakeholders.
- To help ensure smooth functioning of G-20 consultations and summit preparations, it would be useful to pool troika administrative capacity. Previous and upcoming host governments could offer one to three officials to the current host on secondment to form a Host Support Team with one of their key functions being the maintenance of an official, consistent G-20 website in multiple languages to serve as a repository of all official documents, past and current.
- G-20 Sherpa assistants (“Yaks”) could negotiate parts of the agenda to relieve the burden on Sherpas and to develop a larger cadre of officials experienced in this type of multilateral cooperation.
In “How the United States and China Can Strengthen the G-20, and Vice Versa,” CAP Senior Fellow Nina Hachigian and CAP Economist Adam Hersh—both of whom participated in the U.S.-China Study Group—argue that in addition to using the G-20 to build patterns of cooperation among nations at the working levels of government, China is ensured a voice in shaping the rules and norms of the international system on which it relies for growth. Having such a voice will encourage China to invest in building an effective G-20 community.
As the world’s two largest economies—together accounting for 20 percent of the world’s total trade—the United States and China both share a special stake in working to strengthen the G-20 as a multilateral institution for global economic governance. So too do they have a special responsibility. As their international economic imbalances, taken together, comprise 38 percent of these economic imbalances for all G-20 member countries combined, the world is looking to their leadership for ensuring and improving the institution’s efficacy at sustaining economic policy coordination.
Read “U.S.-China Study Group on G-20 Reform: Final Report” in full here.
Read “How the United States and China Can Strengthen the G-20, and Vice Versa” here.
To speak with CAP experts on this topic, please contact Christina DiPasquale at 202.481.8181 or [email protected].
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