A summit meeting of the G7 industrialized nations will be held in Cornwall, southwest England, from Friday to Sunday, marking the first time in two years that their leaders will meet in person.
Last year's summit was postponed due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The main topics of discussion will include measures against the pandemic, climate change, issues related to China and the global economy. It will likely be an opportunity to show that the G7 is resuming its multilateral cooperation, which was disrupted under former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The biggest issue in terms of diplomacy and security is how to respond to China's growing hegemonic moves.
At the G7 foreign ministers meeting in May, China was criticized on a wide range of topics, including the East and South China seas, Hong Kong and trade matters. The ministers' joint statement also referred to Taiwan, which China regards as one of its "core interests," and the G7 countries were united in their harsh opinion of Beijing.
Nevertheless, the G7 countries differ in their approach to China. While the United States is pushing to cut economic and other links, countries including Germany and Japan are reluctant to completely reject China, due to their close economic ties.
It remains to be seen how strong a message the G7 will send to China through the summit.
At the same time, the G7 countries are increasingly critical of Russia over the detention of a leader of the anti-government movement and cyber-attacks against other countries by hacker groups.
With the first U.S.-Russian summit since the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden scheduled for Wednesday, the G7 leaders are expected to share a tough attitude toward Russia. The forced landing of a passenger plane by Belarusian authorities in order to detain an anti-government figure will also be discussed.
-- New taxation rules
The global economy, which was depressed by the coronavirus pandemic, is expected to pick up, thanks in part to the fiscal and monetary policies of various countries and regions. In its economic outlook released in May, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast that the world's real economic growth rate for 2021 will be 5.8%.
It assumed that the United States and China will be the main engine for global growth -- the United States is expected to grow by 6.9% and China by 8.5%. However, the pace of the world's recovery will be uneven, with the eurozone expected to grow 4.3% and Japan by 2.6%.
The joint statement of the G7 finance ministers meeting, which concluded on June 5, stressed that the G7 will strongly support the efforts underway to address tax challenges arising from the globalization and digitization of the economy. It specified a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15%.
The G7 leaders are expected to confirm this policy in Cornwall, so as to reach an agreement on such new international tax rules by July at a meeting of the G20 major economies.
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