Seventh Leaders' Summit of the G20 opened in Los Cabos

LOS CABOS: China has pledged $43 billion to the International Monetary Fund's new crisis fund, the IMF said Monday, after keeping mum for two months on how much they would offer. The promise came after China and other emerging economies imposed conditions on the use of the new funds, and called for the IMF to move quickly to increase the rising economies' voting power in the crisis lender. The seventh Leaders' Summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) opened in Los Cabos, a coastalresort in Mexico, shortly after 3 p.m., local time, Monday. Mexican President Felipe Calderon delivered the opening speech to welcome leaders of the world's industrialized nations and majoremerging economies to the first plenary session of the two-day event with the global economic crisis on top of its agenda. Among the world leaders were Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh ,Chinese President Hu Jintao, U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron. "Los Cabos is a unique opportunity to confront crises and to preserve the environment," said Calderon. "Seeking a long-term growth plan does not seek to ignore the difficult situation facingthe world." The summit was held at a time when global economy is facing great risks and uncertainties. Many fear that the eurozone debt crisis would top the agenda of this year's G20 summit. Calderon contended that the debt crisis in Greece should not overwhelm the two-day summit's agenda, and that the issues long prepared by Mexico would remain under discussion. "We want to achieve a comprehensive action plan for sustainablelong-term growth," said the Mexican president."I know that the people and governments of that continent are trying to build the Europe of the 21st century," he said. "I am confident that the crisis' long-term effect will be a stronger andmore united Europe." The G20, which accounts for 90 percent of global output and two thirds of the world's population, has become the primary forum for economic and financial cooperation. G20 groups Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the European Union.