China mulls joining 'rich nations'
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN Senior China Analyst
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HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- China is considering whether to join the Group of Eight nations, a move that would greatly boost its diplomatic and economic clout among industrialized nations.
On Sunday, President Hu Jintao became the first Chinese leader to take part in a G8 function when he attended the annual summit of the so-called "Rich Nations Club" in Evian, France, as an observer.
State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, who was with Hu, told reporters the president's participation was a "new development" for Chinese foreign policy.
However, Tang, a former foreign minister, said Beijing's position on G8 remained unchanged.
On the question of whether China would follow Russia's footsteps and join the group, Tang said: "This is a question for the future."
"We need to see the [relevant] circumstances," he said. "We shall determine our stance after making studies and consideration."
While the Western media has paid a lot of attention to Hu's debut at G8, the official Chinese press has given fairly routine treatment of his participation in the South-North Leaders' Dialogue, which was part of this year's summit.
In his address to the session, Hu called on industrialized countries to help developing ones through "offering them necessary support, increasing their developing capacity and helping them benefit from economic globalization."
"The establishment of a fair and rational new world economic order meets the requirement of economic globalization and conforms to the common interests of all countries," the Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying.
Diplomatic analysts in Beijing said while China's aggregate economic strength would seem to entitle it to join the G8, the leadership still publicly identified China as a developing nation.
Moreover, while improving its ties to First World countries, Beijing is eager to maintain its position as a leader of Third World countries, particularly those in Africa and the Middle East.
The analysts said the Hu administration had worries that formally joining G8 would detract from its ability to be a spokesman for the developed world.
