How Xi drives G20 cooperation in global crisis

To rejuvenate post-pandemic global economic recovery, Xi called on all G20 members to rise to the challenge, enhance international macro-economic policy coordination, jointly stabilize global industrial and supply chains, and reduce trade barriers, including tariffs.

"It is imperative that we apply the right prescriptions to address both symptoms and root causes of the problems we face," he said at the 2021 G20 summit.

Xi's multi-pronged measures "are systematic, comprehensive and focused," said Lu Feng, an emeritus professor of economics at Peking University. "They have enriched G20's policy toolkit, and enhanced its proactivity and foresight in governing global economy."

One of the key problems the G20 members jointly addressed was the debt burden that was straining low-income countries' resources for fighting the pandemic and safeguarding lives. In April 2020, the G20 announced a Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to help vulnerable countries, an exceptional financial safety net that was extended through December 2021.

Under Xi's leadership, China implemented the G20's DSSI in all respects, and suspended the largest amount of debt service payment among all G20 members.

"China fulfilled its role fairly well as a responsible G20 stakeholder" in helping address African countries' sovereign debt problem, said a report by the China Africa Research Initiative at the Johns Hopkins University, a program dedicated to understanding the political and economic aspects of China-Africa relations.