Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, who are meeting here from today to Friday, will have two outreach sessions, one with five developing countries - Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa - and the other with African countries.

Leaders from Algeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal have been invited to the outreach session tomorrow morning with the G8 leaders, along with Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the Commission of the African Union, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

This will be the fourth time President Hu Jintao has been invited to attend the dialogue meeting, scheduled for tomorrow morning at Heiligendamm in eastern Germany.

In recent years, the G8, consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, has strengthened relations with developing countries and invited such nations as China and India for dialogue on major international issues.

At the 2003 G8 summit, held in Evian, France, leaders from China, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, as well as five NEPAD (the New Partnership for Africa's Development) countries - Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa - attended the informal South-North dialogue meeting ahead of the G8 summit.

At the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, Britain invited leaders from five major developing countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa), and some African countries (Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania) to attend the dialogue meeting.

Leaders from the G8 and developing countries discussed the world economy, climate change and other major international issues.

Chinese President Hu delivered a speech at the meeting in which he made a four-point proposal on developing the global economy, implementing the UN Millennium Development Goals, deepening South-North dialogue and dealing with climate change.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/07/2007 page2)