Security top priority at G20 summit

The local government will "spare no effort" to guarantee the "absolute safety" of the G20 summit to be held early next month in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said the city's top official.

Zhao Yide, Party chief of Hangzhou, said on Monday that local authorities have taken adequate measures to ensure the safety of participants and residents.

The 11th G20 summit, to be held Sept 4 and 5, will be chaired by President Xi Jinping, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Officials have rehearsed traffic control measures for the summit at night, when there are fewer vehicles on the roads, to avoid disturbing residents, Zhao told China Daily.

"We are trying to create a balance between ensuring security and not disturbing the residents," he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including many elderly residents, applied to work as volunteers at the G20 events, he said. Many senior women, called dama in Chinese, have been enthusiastic about learning some basic English so they will be better prepared as volunteers.

The government has trained nearly 4,000 volunteers from 14 countries to provide multilingual services for the events, and people can dial 96020 for information about the summit, he said.

Zhao said a survey shows that about 95 percent of the local residents are happy about the summit being held in Hangzhou, a tourist center famous for its scenic West Lake.

The city government did not construct any new buildings for the meetings in order to be frugal, but worked to improve the environment, including air and water quality and traffic, he said.

(China Daily 08/16/2016 page8)