Turkey handed over the Business 20 (B20) presidency to China at a ceremony held during the B20 Antalya Summit on Nov 14, one day before the opening of the G20 summit.

In token of the official takeover of the B20 baton, Jiang Zengwei, chair of the B20 China 2016 and head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), received a USB flash disk containing B20 achievement files from Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges. It marked the first time for China to be the host of the B20.

Jiang announced that the launching ceremony for the B20 China will be held in Beijing in January.

The CCPIT has been entrusted by the Chinese government to lead preparation work for the event, Jiang said.

According to Jiang, the council has set up a host committee for the B20 2016. A range of topics have been planned – including finance and growth, trade and investment, infrastructure, small and medium-sized enterprises development and employment – and relevant taskforces have already been formed. In addition, an anti-corruption forum is also on schedule.

Over a one-year span, the host committee will organize a series of events – including the B20 Summit, taskforce meetings, symposiums and forums – conduct research and make policy proposals to the G20 leadership in a bid to help resolve key problems faced by the world economy.

Business and industry communities should play a unique role in helping the world economy attain the goal of a robust, balanced and sustainable growth, said Jiang, adding that the B20 will carry on its glorious missions to that end. In 2016, the B20 host committee will take opinion of B20 members and others into serious consideration and constantly improve the topics and plans for the B20 event. Jiang invited business and industry communities to participate in relevant discussions and hoped that relevant international organizations, consultancies, experts and scholars alike will contribute their wisdom and expertise.

In his speech, Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed his confidence that China will host a successful B20, which will be an “enormous inspiration” to the world business and industry community.

Politicians, businesspeople, and representatives from international organizations and institutions present at the meeting all extended their congratulations to China and expressed high hopes for the coming event.

The handover ceremony attracted more than 400 business leaders and representatives from international organizations and consultancies, including Sunil Mittal, vice-chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, and Muhtar Kent, chair of the B20 International Business Advisory Council.

The B20 is an influential platform whose purpose is to promote continuous dialog and exchange between G20 leasers, the business and industry community and relevant international organizations and institutions so as to ensure that business and industry communities’ opinion is well embodied in the G20 leadership’s decision-making and policy implementation.

(from en.b20-china.org)