By Qin Jize

President Hu Jintao's participation in the G8 summit's outreach session will help China deal with major international issues and boost mutually beneficial cooperation with the rest of the developing world, experts said yesterday.

Beijing's response to burning global issues will be taken more seriously because the international community is now paying greater attention to the rapid development of the country, said Sun Zhe, a senior research scholar with Shanghai's Fudan University.

The three-day gathering of leaders of the world's major powers in the German resort of Heiligendamm is expected to focus on climate change, intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and investment liberalization.

Hu is expected to elaborate China's way of development and appears to have chosen climate change as one of his top diplomatic issues because the heated debate on global warming has been going on for a long time now, Sun said.

China became the first developing country to release a national program on climate change before the summit. The move shows its willingness to act as a responsible member of the international community to combat global warming, he said.

Though there are fears that China may face further pressure from G8 members to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, reports quoted a German expert on Chinese affairs Eberhard Sandschneide as saying there are few indications that other world leaders will play hardball with Hu. When the West itself is still struggling to reach consensus on climate change, it's unlikely for it to expect China alone to fix a emission cutting goal, Sandschneide said.

"Hu is expected to take full advantage of the G8 summit to stress China's stance on important global issues and reflect the vitality of the country's diplomacy," Sun said.

China should communicate with the rest of the developing world in an active way to erase misunderstanding and distrust among the developing world, he said.

This is the fourth time President Hu is taking take part in the G8 summit's outreach session.

The increase in exchanges and dialogues between China and the G8 members conforms to the interests of the two sides. A series of ministerial level dialogues in finance, energy and public health were held before the G8 summit.

Chen Xulong, a senior scholar with China Institute of International Studies, said G8 members would like to see how China can work as a bridge between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Such a situation has been necessitated because China would not seek to be a member of the industrialized group of countries, said Fudan University scholar Ren Xiao.

The best position for China as a developing country is a moderate level of participation at the G8 Summit, he said, though it has to exert itself.

(China Daily 06/07/2007 page2)