China in the G20: a guide for Model G20 delegates

If you are assigned China at a Model G20, you speak for one of the G20's 19 member countries, which sit alongside the European Union and the African Union. China hosted the G20 in 2016 and calls itself a member of the Global South. In 2026 it was the one member present that objected to parts of the finance ministers' statement at Asheville. This guide reflects official sources and named news reports as of mid-October 2026.

At a glance

• System (2018): the Constitution, as amended in 2018, calls Communist Party leadership "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics". The capital is Beijing.
• Leaders (2026): President Xi Jinping, head of state, and Premier Li Qiang, head of government.
• People (2025): 1,404.89 million at the end of 2025 (National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, mainland count).
• Economy (2025): GDP of 140,187.9 billion yuan, up 5.0 percent (NBS, preliminary), or about US$19.5 trillion (World Bank).
• G20 presidency (2016): the Hangzhou Summit, 4 to 5 September 2016.
• Groupings (2026): a permanent member of the UN Security Council, APEC host in 2026 and, by Xi's account, BRICS chair in 2027.

China's G20 story

At Hangzhou, leaders adopted "the Hangzhou Consensus", built on four principles: Vision, Integration, Openness and Inclusiveness. They launched the G20 Initiative on Supporting Industrialization in Africa and LDCs (least developed countries) and recognised that "excess capacity in steel and other industries is a global issue which requires collective responses". At Rio in 2024, Xi said "At the Hangzhou Summit, China placed development at the center of the G20's macroeconomic policy coordination for the first time."

Under India's 2023 presidency, China co-chaired the Sustainable Finance Working Group with the United States. That year, footnotes to two ministers' chair's summaries said the Ukraine paragraphs taken from the Bali declaration were "agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China". The New Delhi summit settled on wording that named no culprit. Premier Li Qiang represented China at New Delhi (2023) and Johannesburg (2025), and Xi spoke at Rio (2024). No future Chinese presidency has been announced.

What China wants from the G20

These are the Chinese government's positions; other members disagree with some of them.

• Open trade. At Johannesburg in 2025, Li warned of "the rise of unilateralism and protectionism" and urged members to "firmly safeguard free trade, and build an open world economy".
• A bigger voice for developing countries. Li wants to "accelerate reforms of institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), so as to enhance the voice of developing countries". At the UN's Global Development Initiative meeting in September 2025 he also said that, "as a responsible major developing country", China "will not seek new special and differential treatment" in WTO negotiations.
• Development. Xi says "China will always be a member of the Global South" and has offered "zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines" to least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China.
• Climate. Li asked the G20 to "uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities". In 2025 Xi pledged that China would, "by 2035, reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent to 10 percent from peak levels".
• AI and minerals. Li wants to "bridge the AI divide", invites countries to join the World AI Cooperation Organization, and "calls for the implementation of the G20 Critical Minerals Framework".
• Consensus. The Foreign Ministry says the G20 should work "based on the principle of consensus through consultation and equal participation."

Alliances and groupings

• UN Security Council: one of five permanent members.
• BRICS: at the 2026 summit in New Delhi, Xi said China "will take over the BRICS chairship next year".
• Shanghai Cooperation Organization: a founding member, by China's account. At an SCO Plus meeting in 2025, Xi proposed a Global Governance Initiative.
• APEC: China is scheduled to host the leaders' meeting in Shenzhen on 18 to 19 November 2026, according to Shenzhen's local government.

In the G20, China proposed an open science initiative with Brazil, South Africa and the African Union in 2024. "Global South" is Xi's self-description, not a formal bloc.

China and India

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) records diplomatic relations from 1 April 1950 and calls the 1962 border conflict "a setback to bilateral ties". Ties were hit by incidents along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh in 2020; after a patrolling agreement, the leaders met at Kazan on 23 October 2024. Direct flights resumed in October 2025. The boundary question is still being negotiated: the Special Representatives have held 24 rounds of talks since 2003.

After Xi and Modi met in New Delhi on 12 September 2026, China's readout quoted Xi: "China and India are partners rather than rivals". The MEA spokesperson, as reported by The Statesman, said Modi raised "Indian concerns" and the "three mutuals": mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.

On NBS figures for 2025, China exported 972.3 billion yuan of goods to India and imported 141.2 billion yuan. India's Commerce Ministry, as reported by PTI, says India's deficit mainly reflects imports of raw materials and intermediate and capital goods for products that are also exported. China's ambassador asks India for "a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies".

Recent developments

Asheville. The finance ministers' meeting of 31 August to 1 September 2026 ended with a US chair's statement, not a communiqué. Its footnote says it "was agreed by all G20 members present except China, which objected to paragraphs 4, 10, 11, and 13." IANS, a news agency, reported that these cover energy trade and the Strait of Hormuz, global imbalances, IMF surveillance and sovereign debt restructuring. The imbalances paragraph names no country; it addresses both "countries with excessive and persistent external surpluses" and deficit countries.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent, as reported by IANS, linked the dispute to China's "current account surplus" and said China "was the dissenter". China's Foreign Ministry said on 31 August, before the statement was issued, "China never seeks trade surplus", and on 2 September "We regret that the meeting failed to issue a communiqué". Its Commerce Ministry, per Xinhua, called G20 talk of "economic imbalances" and "overcapacity" "a cover for protectionism".

China and the United States. After Xi's state visit to the US in September 2026, China's Foreign Ministry said "The two heads of state intend to attend each other's meetings", meaning APEC and the G20 summit. That is an intention, not confirmed attendance in Miami.

Representing China at a Model G20

• Likely allies. Developing members on IMF, World Bank and WTO reform; Brazil, South Africa and the African Union, your 2024 open science partners; and the US presidency on a successful summit. China's readout has Xi asking India to coordinate in the G20; expect India to raise the border.
• Likely red lines. Reasoning from its statements and the Asheville text: wording that targets "overcapacity" or surplus countries, uses the Asheville phrase "non-market policies", backs unilateral tariffs or treats China as no longer a developing country. On Taiwan, China's readout says Xi told President Trump that China's position on "national reunification and territorial integrity" is "clear-cut".
• Answer the overcapacity point. If others quote Hangzhou's steel line, note that it calls excess capacity "a global issue", but expect others to reply that the same paragraph says government subsidies can contribute to excess capacity; then ask that disputes be settled "through equal consultations, while addressing each other's reasonable concerns", in Li's words.
• How to phrase positions. Use China's vocabulary: "an open world economy" and "consensus through consultation". Object to specific paragraphs and offer new wording, so the rest can still be agreed.
• Documents to quote. The Hangzhou communiqué (2016), Xi's Rio remarks (2024), Li's Johannesburg speeches (2025) and the Foreign Ministry's press conference of 2 September 2026.

What to do next

Build your brief with how to write a Model G20 position paper and how a G20 leaders' declaration is agreed, then read the G20 Sherpa Track and Finance Track explained and the 2026 G20 presidency explained.

Model G20 is One Young India's simulation of the G20 summit for students, held as a three-day residential summit at FLAME University.