Commentary: G20 members should jointly defend multilateralism

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- As uncertainties brought by protectionism loom over the world economy, members of the Group of 20 (G20) should realize the urgency of jointly safeguarding the multilateral trade system.

Ahead of the G20 Osaka summit, international organizations expressed their worries over the trade tensions between China and the United States.

"Trade wars are beneficial to none," Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde said earlier this week, adding she was concerned that trade tensions could have a significant impact on global growth.

This month, the World Bank downgraded its forecast for global growth in 2019 by 0.3 percentage points, warning of downside risks to global growth including rising trade barriers.

Remarks by Christine Lagarde and the World Bank's forecast highlighted a worldwide concern that protectionism and unilateralism have become a major threat to the world economy.

To tackle the challenges brought by protectionism, G20 economies must stay committed to openness and cooperation.

During the G20 Osaka summit, China is willing to jointly work with other G20 members to seek consensus to promote international trade growth, as it has always done.

Though faced with external challenges and risks, China has stayed committed to its reform and opening-up policy.

As a result, China's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative registered a robust increase in the first five months this year, despite the slowdown of international trade.

As the world's second largest economy, China steadily expanded its trade, which has not only contributed to its own growth but also to the global economic recovery.

While addressing the G20 summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pledged that China will further open up its market, proactively expand imports, continuously improve its business environment for foreign enterprises, and press ahead with various trade agreement negotiations.

While some countries resorted to tariff hikes and other protectionist measures for the benefit of their own, China, on the contrary, has taken a more open approach to seek win-win results. It shows that China has been playing its part as a major and responsible country. However, some countries were revealed to be selfish and irresponsible.

China has sent a clear and loud message to the world that the country will unswervingly defend multilateralism. However, it takes efforts from all to defend the rule-based multilateral trade system.

Today, we need multilateralism more than ever. It is time for the G20 members to shoulder their responsibilities and jointly stand out against protectionism and unilateralism.