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China has scuppered a consensus at the G20 finance ministers’ summit by opposing language in the communiqué agreed by the US and the other countries about eliminating “non-market policies” to curb global trade imbalances.
Beijing objected to language on several issues, including efforts to ensure the smooth functioning of global supply chains for energy, food, fertiliser and critical minerals, according to US and European officials.
The US, which hosted the event in North Carolina, will later on Tuesday release a “chair statement” that has been agreed by all the G20 members — the US, 18 other countries and the EU and African Union — except China.
Asked why China had resisted the language agreed by the group, a senior US official said: “They are guilty. If we are worried about persistent distortions, they are the worst offenders. For the G20 to have something at 19-1 is unbelievable.”
The discord comes three weeks before President Xi Jinping is due to visit Washington for a summit with President Donald Trump and three months before the G20 leaders will meet in Miami for their annual summit.
US officials said the G20 members — which include Japan, France, the UK, the EU, India and Russia — had agreed on the need for “steps to eliminate non-market policies and practices that exacerbate imbalances”.
But China objected to the phrase “non-market policies”, according to two US officials and a senior European Commission official. It also resisted calls for the IMF and OECD to improve data needed to analyse non-market policies.
“It came down to a few words. As we have seen with the Chinese, they try to slow things down and methodically change the nomenclature. We’re not going for that,” said the senior US official. “They need to seriously reconsider this. If they can’t even agree on words, they certainly won’t be able to deliver on any action.”
The European official said it was a “lost opportunity for the global economy”.
The disagreement comes amid concerns about Chinese exports, which are largely viewed as being driven by domestic overcapacity — a position Beijing rejects.
China’s trade surplus with the EU grew to €360bn in 2025, according to the bloc’s data. The US is working on imposing duties on China and other countries aimed at tackling overcapacity.
The European official added that while the Chinese delegation may have felt “cornered” by the other members at the two-day meeting, it had objected to so many issues in the draft communiqué that it made any consensus impossible.
China also objected to any mention of “critical minerals”, according to the officials.
Beijing last year threatened to introduce sweeping global export controls on critical minerals after Trump put tariffs on China. Trump and Xi reached a truce in their trade war last October but US officials say China is not fully living up to its commitment to ensure the supply of rare earths. Washington also wants China to ease restrictions on exports to Japan, which is critical to US supply chains.
“Their behaviour towards Japan is appalling,” said the senior US official.
China also objected to a section on ensuring predictable navigation through the Strait of Hormuz because of concerns about the implications for the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, over which it claims sovereignty.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent billed the G20 meeting as an effort to promote global economic growth, address economic imbalances, and debate ways to restructure sovereign debt. The summit was also attended by private sector executives including JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon.
China also objected to language about G20 members affirming “solidarity” with a “Common Framework”, designed to help countries with high debt levels reduce their liabilities, particularly to China.
Global borrowing costs have reached multiyear highs, heaping pressure on the world’s biggest economies and triggering nervousness among investors.
The summit was at times fractious. European officials refused on Monday to be pictured alongside the Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov, who made his first physical appearance at an international meeting since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ministers from Germany and the EU also criticised Trump’s global trade war. Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s commissioner for economy and productivity, called tariffs “counter-productive”.
But the senior European official said that despite some disagreement, the G20 members strongly appreciated the US efforts to tackle overcapacity and the other issues raised over the two days in Asheville, North Carolina.
