Japan urges support for free, fair trade at G20 summit

ANKARA Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday told the G20 leaders that the global economy is facing downside risks. "I want the G20 to share a determination to realize growth by employing all policy tools," Abe said in his opening address to the summit in the port city of Osaka. He also urged the global leaders to deliver a "strong message" to support free, fair and indiscriminate trade, according to Kyodo news. "We [G20] should send out a strong message," the state-run news agency quoted him as saying. Abe, who is also the head of the G20 summit, stated that Tokyo would promote improvement in the multilateral trade system and consensus on global economic cooperation. Leaders of 20 major economies -- including Turkey, the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K., France, Germany and India -- are meeting in Japan's port city Osaka for two days marking the 14th summit G20. The summit is being held under the shadow of several disputed issues including the trade war between the U.S. and China, climate change, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Hong Kong protests and tensions in the South China Sea. “Restrictive measures will not benefit any country,” Abe said without referring to tit-for-tat traffic hikes between Beijing and Washington as he expressed "deep concern" about the current landscape of global trade. The Japanese leader also stressed on the reform in the World Trade Organization.