Following its advocacy during the 2015 Turkey B20 resulting in the digital economy becoming a key policy directive of the 2015 G20 Leaders Communique, GCEL was re-appointed to five 2016 China B20 Task Forces on January 26, 2016. Through GCEL’s interventions during the 2015 Turkey B20 Task Force sessions, the Digital Economy was identified to impact 17 out of 25 key 2015 Turkey B20 recommendations to the G20 Leaders
At the B20 2015 China Kick-Off session in Beijing, the B20 leaders took forward the Digital Economy momentum that had started in Turkey, recognizing the importance of digital innovation to boost global trade. Consequently, the Digital Economy was established as a key objective of the Trade, Employment, Infrastructure, and SME Task Forces.
During the general plenary and panel sessions, notable interventions from public and private sector leaders acknowledged the significant importance of the Digital Economy as the enabler for achieving global economic growth. The B20 2016 China Sherpa, H.E. Yu Ping, also agreed that the implementation of the Digital Economy recommendations from 2015 B20 Turkey was an important policy focus requiring implementation to rebalance the global economy.