Special Report: President Hu attends outreach session of G8 Summit, visits Sweden

Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd R) poses for a group photo with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2nd L), Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (1st L), Mexican President Felipe Calderon (C) and South African President Thabo Mbeki ahead of their meeting in Berlin, capital of Germany, June 7, 2007. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)

Leaders of five major developing countries met in Berlin Thursday to discuss the world economy, climate change and other key issues ahead of a meeting with leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations.

Attending the meeting were Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The leaders will also hold "an outreach session" with their counterparts of the G8 countries on Friday in Heiligendamm, a Baltic resort town in northern Germany.

On the world economy, the Chinese president said developing countries should "cooperate with each other to jointly cope with the risks of economic globalization, safeguard our common interests, create favorable conditions for our development and promote coordinated global development."

On climate change, Hu said China gives high priority to environmental protection and sustainable development.

"We follow the scientific thinking of development which is people-oriented and calls for all-round, coordinated and sustainable development," he said.

China strictly complies with relevant international conventions and has taken a series of measures to contribute to mitigating the impact of global climate change, he said.

To more effectively tackle climate change, Hu said, the Chinese government has adopted a national climate change program.

"We will fully implement this program. In so doing, we are not only living up to our responsibilities for our own people, but also contributing our share to the global cause of sustainable development," he said.

The leaders from the five nations pledged to abide by the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" while tackling climate change and urged developed nations to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emission.

On the Doha round of trade talks, the leaders said efforts should be made to conclude the negotiations at an early date and the results should reflect the interests and concerns of developing countries. They also urged developed nations to reduce subsidies for agricultural products and lower import tariffs.

On the development issue, the leaders vowed to continue efforts in eradicating hunger and poverty and urged developed nations to honor their commitments on aid and help developing countries achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Developing countries should participate in decision-making and actions in a more active attitude so as to meet various challenges in this inter-dependent world, the leaders said in a communique issued after the meeting.

On the issues to be discussed with G8 countries, the leaders said they saw opportunities for cooperation in cross-border investment, research and innovation, climate change, energy and development.

All of these challenges "must be addressed from multi-lateral, regional and bilateral perspectives and the interests and capabilities of different countries should be taken into consideration," the document said.

Editor: Yan