The annual G20 summit has opened in Hangzhou, China. In the planning stage, the government left nothing to chance and spared no expense. It's the first time, after all, that China has hosted this meeting of the world's major economies. It is not only a matter of prestige, but of showing that the world's economies are in concert to ensure that common goals are met. Even if there were several events ahead of the summit, such as the meeting of finance ministers in Chengdu in July, it is the first time that so many world leaders have come to China.

The agenda that the G20 has set itself is ambitious: It wants to build an innovative, healthy, coherent and fair economy, to combat climate change, to tackle the Iranian and North Korean nuclear questions, as well as cyber security and terrorism.

The summit is taking place against a backdrop that includes a slowed Chinese economy for a second year running, upcoming elections in the US, an EU that is busy with Brexit and a rise in global terrorism.

The world's economy has slowed down as industrialized nations consume less and emerging economies such as Brazil, South Africa and Russia invest less than once was hoped.

An ambitious agenda

However, the G20 members have committed themselves to increasing global growth by at least two percentage points by 2018. Boasting 1.3 billion inhabitants, China contributes about 1 percent to global growth, but its contribution to the economy is over 15 percent. In the fight against global terrorism, Beijing has become an indispensable mediator for countries such as Syria, Iran and Iraq. This is in its own interest since it neither wants terrorism to strike it at home, nor does it want its citizens to become victims of terrorism abroad. Last year, 120 million Chinese citizens went abroad.

China is acquiring a much larger role through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which supports projects in emerging nations that would otherwise not find any funding. This year, some $1.2 billion will go towards such projects. The "One Belt, One Road" dream of reviving the storied Silk Road is enabling countries such as Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan and Pakistan to blossom. Most of all, however, China wants to display its own country and leadership skills in international questions.

G20 blue

So it is no surprise that Beijing left nothing to chance. The images from Hangzhou are supposed to show the world - as often is the purpose of such big events - that the world's second economy is gaining ground on the international stage. Over 140,000 taxi drivers were monitored in advance to make sure security was at its tightest. The 3,900 volunteers chosen from 26,000 applicants from universities in Zhejiang province to look after guests had to speak fluent English.

Hundreds of petrochemicals, steel and cement plants were closed down temporarily and production has been wound down in major cities to ensure that the skies above Hangzhou are smog-free and the air freed of fine dust, which usually lies well above the recommended WHO values. G20 blue is the new buzzword on the Internet. In 2014, the term was APEC blue when factories were closed down for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. That was not so successful though.

How will the fight against climate change go?

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama have already met on the sidelines of the summit. President Obama is on his last official Asia tour of his presidency. He and Chinese President Xi Jinping have become closer over the issue of climate change in recent years and committed themselves to reducing CO2 emissions. China has shown the way, now it's up to the other G20 members to make their mark.

DW's Frank Sieren has lived in Beijing for over 20 years.