The G20 was established in September 1999 following the global financial crisis of 1997–1998, which showed the international financial system’s vulnerability in the context of the globalisation of economic relations.
The G20 brings together Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, as well as the EU represented by the presiding country. The G20 member countries account for two-thirds of the global population and about 85% of the global GDP.
The G20 format envisages an informal dialogue among the participating countries on issues such as preventing new crises, reforming and improving the international financial system, and multilateral cooperation to ensure stable economic growth.
Until 2008, the G20 mainly operated through annual meetings of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the participating countries. The first G20 summit was convened on November 15, 2008, in Washington to discuss ways of dealing with the global financial and economic crisis.