G20 leaders vow to keep markets open to lessen COVID-19 impact

Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies on Thursday vowed to keep their markets open to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

"We reiterate our goal to realize a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment, and to keep our markets open," the leaders said in a joint statement released after Saudi Arabia convened an extraordinary summit by video-link.

As part of the multilateral response to the pandemic, G20 leaders also committed to continuing to work together to facilitate international trade and coordinate responses in ways that avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade, according to the statement.

"We task our trade ministers to assess the impact of the pandemic on trade," the statement said.

According to the statement, G20 leaders vowed to do "whatever it takes" to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak and pledged to inject over 5 trillion U.S. dollars to boost the global economy.

(CGTN)