Joe Biden plans to discuss COVID-19 pandemic, China in G7 meeting on Friday

US President Joe Biden will participate in a virtual G7 meeting on Friday where he plans to discuss efforts to rebuild the global economy, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the G7's economic stance towards China.

Citing a White House statement, The Hill reported that at the UK-hosted virtual gathering, Biden will "focus on a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic," suggesting that the Biden administration will pursue an approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that involves US allies in a greater role than did the Trump administration, which pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation-led COVAX effort to distribute vaccines in less developed nations.

However, in the month of January, the Biden administration pledged to vaccinate 100 million Americans within the first 100 days of the president taking office.

Other discussions with leaders at the summit will focus on economic recovery from the pandemic, which left millions out of work in the US alone, as well as the G7's economic stance towards China, which the president has vowed to hold accountable for acts of economic espionage and other disputed trade issues, The Hill reported.

According to the statement from the White House, "President Biden will also discuss the global economic recovery, including the importance of all industrialized countries maintaining economic support for the recovery and collective measures to build back better."

"President Biden will also discuss the need to make investments to strengthen our collective competitiveness and the importance of updating global rules to tackle economic challenges such as those posed by China," the statement read.

Meanwhile, this will be his first meeting with leaders from the Group of Seven nations as US President.

G7 is a grouping of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA and the European Union (EU).

(ANI)

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