The Role of China and Russia in Global Governance: The Case of the G20

Lyu Yan' Postgraduate student, Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6 1019492339@qq.com

Introduction

One of the influential international financial institutions at the global level is the "Big Twenty", which is a club of governments and heads of central banks of 19 countries and the European Union of the most developed and developing countries. The G20 was officially launched following the meeting of the Prime Ministers of the G7 on September 26, 1999. After the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the member States of the association account for 90% of global GDP, 80% of international trade and 2/3 of the world population. Despite the fact that at the time of the formation of the "Big Twenty", the format of the "Big Eight" already existed, according to D. A. Degterev, the format of the 20 largest economies turned out to be more representative, allowing it to reflect the interests of the states of the developed and developing world" ^[1].

The modern institutional structure of the "Big Twenty" took shape only in 2008, when meetings of heads of state and government began to be organized within the framework of the association. Thus, the G20 format has become not just an association for discussing trade issues, but also a potential platform for solving global problems and defining a common agenda for human development, in which such major powers as China and Russia play a special role.

G20 Summits from 2008 to 2019: areas of activity between two global crises

The main theme of the first G20 summits was the recovery of the world economy after the financial and economic crisis of 2008, which engulfed most of the world's economies.  

On the eve of the first summit in November 2008 (Washington, USA), in the Chinese state newspaper People's Daily, China formulated a position on the current crisis, naming as its causes an imperfect financial system that primarily meets the interests of Western countries ^[2]. Since this thesis was supposed to be the topic of discussion at the G20 summit", the head of the People's Republic of China decided to discuss this problem with the President of Russia, thereby seeking to secure support at the site of the upcoming summit. In November 2008, a meeting of the heads of China and Russia took place, at which the parties agreed to cooperate on various issues of global development in order to effectively respond to such crises ^[3]. The achievement of the two countries following the summit in Washington was the reflection in the joint declaration of the parties of the need to reform existing international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank ^[4]. As a result, the recovery from the recession was carried out by the states of the "Big Twenty" due to an unprecedented monetary issue. In the United States, the combined volume of the first and second waves of quantitative easing amounted to $2.3 trillion. In September 2012, the US Federal Reserve began monthly purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage obligations in the amount of $ 40 billion. Two refinancing operations were carried out in the European Union, as a result of which the European Central Bank issued 1 trillion Euro loans ^[5].

The second summit of 2009 in London was also devoted to anti-crisis measures.  At the summit, the Russian side worked out "Proposals of the Russian Federation for the G20 Summit in London (April 2009)" ^[6], in which Russia's proposals for reforming the global financial system were formulated. As a result of the discussion, the leaders of the G20 countries agreed on six anti-crisis measures in the field of finance: increasing IMF resources and allocating funds to help the countries most affected by the crisis; strengthening control over financial markets; combating opaque tax policy; regulating bonus payments to the management of firms and the banking sector; developing national anti-crisis packages; ensuring sustainability of national economies. The result was the decision of the G20 states to allocate $5 trillion over 1.5 years to solve financial problems ^[7].  

Thus, already at the first summits of the G20 in 2008 and 2009, the leaders of the association states, including Russia and China, demonstrated the ability to interact in this format and show an "effective response" to the challenges of the global economic crisis.  At the third G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009, the first results were achieved to overcome the global economic crisis. Moreover, at the summit, it was decided to differentiate the functions of the "Big Twenty" and the "Big Eight", leaving the first to discuss current problems of the world economy, and the second to discuss geopolitical issues.

Interacting in the G20 format, China and Russia not only gained experience in global governance in the field of trade and finance, but also gained the opportunity to promote their own agenda for the development of international cooperation on the principles of inclusiveness, which means taking into account the interests and capabilities of developing countries. Both countries at the summits promoted the IMF reform plan, which consisted in providing large quotas to developing countries to increase their share of participation in global governance. It should be noted that this Russian-Chinese initiative received the support of the United States, which contributed to its active discussion within the framework of the G20. The day before the summit in September 2009 in Pittsburgh, U.S. President B. Obama supported this idea, proclaiming at the UN session a new era of joint responsibility for solving international problems. Thanks to the position of China, Russia, the United States and other countries, the G20 managed to agree on an increase in quotas in the capital of the IMF (and, therefore, votes in decision-making) for developing economies. Russia and China advocated an increase in quotas by 7%, but the protest of a number of states of the association prevented the implementation of the original idea, as a result of which quotas were increased, but only in the amount of 5% in the IMF and 3% in the World Bank ^[7]. Nevertheless, this decision demonstrated the ability of such powers as Russia and China to form an agenda within international platforms and defend the interests of developing countries that do not have levers of influence on world economic processes comparable to developed countries.

After the third G20 summit, a feature of the association was the inclusion not only of the trade and economic, but also of the political agenda, including security issues. Such an expansion of the G20's activities was associated with such challenges as the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the aggravation of the problem of Iran's nuclear program in 2012 and the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis in late 2013 – early 2014. The difficult geopolitical situation has become a chance to strengthen Russian-Chinese cooperation in the development of global governance, including the formulation of a non-Western concept of international cooperation.

Political issues became key at the G20 summit in September 2013 in St. Petersburg, when there was an active discussion of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria ^[8]. The success of cooperation between Russia and China at the summit was the decision of the G20 member states to abandon plans for military intervention in Syria ^[9]. Thus, this decision on the problem of Syria has become an example of the new role of the G20, which has become an alternative platform to the UN Security Council for solving global and regional problems of international security ^[10].

At the G20 summit in Hangzhou in September 2016, a high level of mutual understanding between Russia and China on various issues of the global and regional agendas was again demonstrated.  Among the agreements reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, joint military operations in Syria can be mentioned ^[11]. Thus, Russia and China have consistently formed a consensus on regional and global issues, gradually translating the strategic partnership between the two countries into a practical plane and expanding the influence of the two states on the G20 platform.

In 2017, the G20 Summit was held in Hamburg, where the key topics of discussion were the issues of deglobalization processes, as well as the problems of inequality and climate change. As a result of the summit, the cooperation of the member states in the fields of digital economy and healthcare was institutionalized. Moreover, the traditional thesis of countering protectionism measures was revised, as a result of which a clause was added on the possibility of using legal means to protect the national economy. In many ways, the key challenge for the summit was the assumption of the office of US President D. Trump, who chose a protectionist approach to foreign trade and a skeptical approach to climate initiatives: in particular, the Trump administration decided to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, thereby creating prerequisites for a split within the G20 and the breakdown of previous agreements in this area ^[12]. The expansion of the topics of discussion at the summits of the "Big Twenty" allows us to say that the association is following the path of development that was characteristic of the "Big Seven" ^[13]. According to researchers B. Karin and D. Schorr, such an expansion of the summit agenda is primarily aimed at finding common points of contact between states with different socio-economic and cultural systems ^[14].

G20 Summit in Riyadh (2020): Russia and China facing a pandemic challenge

The G20 summit under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia, held on November 21-22, 2020 in the format of a videoconference, turned out to be special, which was associated with the beginning of the COVID-19 virus pandemic in the world and the closure of state borders in a number of countries. Noting the priority importance of economic recovery and protection of the population in a pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was important to help developing countries overcome the crisis. In particular, Vladimir Putin criticized the actions of the IMF to impose a temporary moratorium on debt obligations, noting that it is limited only to the poorest countries, not taking into account debts to private creditors and covering less than 4% of the total cost of debts in 2020. The President also called for abandoning the practice of protectionism in trade and unilateral sanctions, and continuing work on reforming the WTO. The importance of ensuring equal access of the population of the countries to vaccines was also emphasized, in connection with which it was stated that Russia was ready to provide the states of the world with its own vaccines ^[15].

Xi Jinping's speech at the online summit demonstrated the unity of views with Russia on many issues on the agenda. In particular, the Chinese President stressed the importance of ensuring equal access of the world's population to vaccines, promoting stable production and supply chains, bridging the "digital divide" between developed and developing countries, and easing the debt burden of less developed countries in a pandemic. In the field of global governance, China stressed the importance of ensuring the central role of the UN, free and inclusive trade through WTO reform, the implementation of the Global Data Security Initiative proposed by China, as well as an effective response to global challenges, including climate change. In conclusion, the Chinese leader called for joint efforts to help build a community of a common destiny of mankind ^[16].  Thus, Russia and China have demonstrated the example of two major responsible powers ready to offer the world their project to overcome the global crisis in the face of the severe consequences of the pandemic for the world economy.

G20 Summit in Rome (2021): Post-crisis recovery and increased geopolitical tensions

The summit on October 30-31, 2021 in Rome also retained the agenda of the 2020 summit. In his speech, the President of Russia noted that the high budget deficits of developed countries, primarily the United States, led to an increase in prices for energy, food, and financial assets, thereby creating prerequisites for a high level of global inflation and a decline in business activity. The emphasis was also placed on helping the poorest countries. Vladimir Putin pointed out the need to abandon unfair competition and protectionism in the issue of vaccines. In addition, the importance of ensuring the stable functioning of energy markets was noted, issues of climate change and low-carbon energy were touched upon, including Russia's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The presentation emphasized the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of various environmental projects ^[17].

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his vision of the situation in the world at the summit. A significant moment was the mention by the country's leader of the century-old unprecedented changes that require the states of the world to develop cooperation on the basis of openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit. In particular, the head of China reiterated his proposal to recognize vaccines as public domain with the exclusion of intellectual property rights within the WTO, to ensure the harmonization of macroeconomic policies of states, to promote a more inclusive approach in the IMF and WTO reform under the leadership of the G20 states. Moreover, the PRC took the initiative to hold a forum on the sustainability of the industrial chain and supply chain, and also noted the importance of infrastructure construction, including within the framework of the Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road". The Chinese side also mentioned the global development initiative, which includes issues of combating poverty, food security, "green development" and other areas of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda until 2030. A separate item of the speech was devoted to the development of scientific and technological innovations, in particular the digital economy and overcoming "digital gaps" and the implementation of the global initiative on data security. Finally, China reaffirmed its commitment to the development of a "green" and low-carbon economy and the goals of achieving a peak in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.^[18] Thus, the positions of Russia and China by 2021 have become even closer, as the leaders of both countries pointed to unprecedented global challenges requiring coordination of actions of all countries taking into account the rights and interests of less developed States. Also in the speeches, there was a noticeable increase in the level of initiative in various areas of cooperation, in particular, their own projects in the fields of ecology, healthcare, etc. were proposed. Thus, the pandemic crisis contributed to strengthening the voice of Russia and China as major responsible powers on international platforms.

The G20 Summit in Bali (2022): new crises and the strengthening of the role of Non-Western

In 2022, the key issue on the agenda at the G20 summit was the special military operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the G20 summit on November 15-16, 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. In his press conference, the Russian Foreign Minister noted that the food and energy crises, which were actively discussed during the summit and which, according to Western countries, arose as a result of the start of the SVO in Ukraine, actually arose as a result of the rash policy of Western states, in particular the use of unsecured financial resources for buying food, as well as a selfish approach. Sergey Lavrov noted Russia's efforts to ensure stable grain supplies to world markets and provide equal access to vaccines for all countries. The issue of US military biological laboratories, whose activities violate the relevant Convention on the Prohibition of Bacteriological Weapons, was also raised ^[19].

No less decisive rhetoric was heard in the speech of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Bali. Among the first points of his speech, the Chinese leader pointed to the need to promote more inclusive global development, criticizing the policy of ideological lines, block confrontation and Cold War thinking, which has become "outdated" in modern realities. The Chinese side also stressed the importance of ensuring mutually beneficial development, in which developed countries should take a more responsible approach, providing support to less developed countries. An example of China's implementation of this approach is, in particular, the Fund for Global Development and South-South Cooperation, which it founded. Finally, Xi Jinping noted the need to ensure sustainable global development, which involves promoting the recovery of the world economy, fulfilling obligations to ease the debt burden for developing countries, implementing WTO reform, promoting digital innovation, developing a green and low-carbon economy, as well as fighting corruption. In addition to previous initiatives, the Chinese president mentioned the Global Security Initiative, which is based on maintaining the spirit of the UN Charter, ensuring common and indivisible security, and promoting the peaceful settlement of crises ^[20].

The peculiarity of the G20 summit in Bali was that for the first time Russia and China expressed open criticism of the existing international order, in which an exclusive approach in the fields of security and economy is maintained in favor of developed Western states. It was important that the PRC did not criticize Russia's foreign policy and pointed out the importance of taking into account the security interests of all parties, which can be considered as a manifestation of an objective approach to the crisis in relations between Russia and Western states. Moreover, China opposed the exclusion of Russia from the G20, also supporting Russia in the face of international diplomatic pressure ^[21]. At the same time, the increasingly obvious divergence of the positions of the world's states due to the causes of the current crisis and the vision of the future world order creates significant challenges for the G20 states, since it requires developing a common approach and finding a compromise in a difficult geopolitical situation.

Opportunities for Russia and China from participating in the G20

Analyzing the experience of Russia and China's participation in the "Big Twenty" in solving global economic and financial problems, we can state the following. Despite the G20's criticism of the inability to reach consensus on a number of topical issues on the global agenda, the G20 is becoming not only an institution for coordinating issues of the world economy, but also a platform for equal dialogue between developed and developing states capable of influencing the existing international order ^[22].

As for China's participation in the forum, Chinese major researcher Chen Dongxiao notes the possibility of the PRC to act as an intermediary between developed and developing economies on issues such as reforming trade regimes, coordinating new and traditional institutions and integrating national agendas into the global agenda, thus ensuring its significant role in the G20 ^[23]. By participating in the activities of the G20, China has become more confident in participating in global governance. Examples of the initiative approach of the PRC include the Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road", launched in 2013 together with the project of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an alternative approach of the PRC to globalization.

Russia's participation in the G20 summits provides it with an opportunity to increase its political weight in international affairs, as well as to promote a more equitable system of the world economy. After Russia's exclusion from the Group of Eight in 2014 as a result of the annexation of Crimea, this forum has become one of the key international platforms for Russia in promoting its national interests and ideas of a multipolar world. Cooperation with China in the unification helped Russia overcome international isolation, including after the start of a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine.

The experience of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership within the framework of the G20 has a positive impact on the work of the association and adds additional content to its agenda. The efforts of Russia and China alone will not overcome the consequences of the economic crisis and correct the situation in the global economy. Nevertheless, thanks to their participation in this association, Russia and China, as major powers playing a significant role in world affairs, create prerequisites for the formation of a fair global governance system based on the principles of inclusiveness and equality of states. In the context of the crisis of the European security system and the confrontation between Russia and the Western states, the G20 platform will continue to be an important channel of interaction between Russia, China and other states advocating a more inclusive and fair approach to global security and world trade, which is based on the principles of mutual respect, openness and mutually beneficial cooperation.