国际英语新闻：G20 leaders start summit in Seoul, focusing on int'l financial system, world's economy

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the world's major developed and developing countries as well as major international institutions started the G20 Seoul Summit on Friday morning, continuing to discuss issues related to "Global Economy and Framework".

Attending the Seoul Summit were leaders from the 20 member countries, the European Union, the IMF, the World Bank, the UN, the World Trade Organization, the OECD, the African Union, the ASEAN, and the International Labor Organization, as well as from five non-G20 countries -- Ethiopia, Malawi, Singapore, Spain, Vietnam.

For each of the 24 countries, the head of State and about two financial officials were attending the summit.

Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the summit, and he was sitting between Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a huge roundtable.

At the first plenary session, South Korean President Lee Myung- bak, in his speech, stressed the significance of the agreements reached at the October Gyeongju G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting which helped ease global tensions related to currency issues and global imbalances.

He also discussed the importance of following through on the Mutual Assessment Process (MAP) to avoid future crises and promote strong sustainable growth.