China will take over the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) from Germany next year, said Finance Minster Jin Renqing. He was speaking at the end of a two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors G20 member nations.

Jin said that next year G20 members will discuss the rational allocation of production factors such as capital, labor and technology; improving the current international economic system; and the principles of achieving balanced and orderly economic development.

Jin said that reform of the Bretton Woods agreement, which had been on the agenda for this year's German presidency of the G20, would be carried over into the Chinese presidency.

The Bretton Woods agreement, signed in July 1944, established rules for commercial and financial relations among major industrial nations. It resulted in the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the forerunner of the World Bank.

German Finance Minister Hans Eichel told a press conference that the group members expect the global macroeconomic environment to remain favorable in the coming year. However, he also warned that downside risks to growth have increased worldwide owing to volatile oil prices, persistent imbalances and geopolitical concerns.

The G20, founded in Berlin in 1999, comprises all the major industrialized nations and the main emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India.

(China.org.cn November 22, 2004)