Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, held a 100-day countdown event in preparation for the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) 2016 summit, demonstrating the city's efforts as the main host to prepare fully for the summit.

China, the chair of the G20 meetings this year, has put innovation high on the agenda of the G20 summit, along with topics such as boosting trade and investment, improving global economic and financial governance, cross-border tax cooperation, and anti-corruption cooperation.

Around 5,000 representatives from many teams that will participate in the upcoming summit attended the countdown event, including armed forces, medical workers from hospitals, and volunteers.

They pledged to do their utmost to provide better service and support to the summit.

Zhao Yide, Party chief of Hangzhou, vowed at a later press briefing on Friday that the city will host the summit with "high standards, swift service and pragmatism."

The scenic city has given its urban facilities a facelift for the high-profile event. All 651 infrastructure renovation projects, covering environmental treatment, airport expressways and hotels for state guests, are expected to be completed by the end of June.

Security concerns

Yu Pengfei, a member of the Hangzhou Special Weapons and Tactics unit, told the Global Times on Friday that 30 members of the division took part in the ceremony, as they are responsible for the security of the summit.

Zhao told the press briefing that all the hotels that will accommodate the summit guests have begin to undergo security checks.

The city, with 7 million permanent residents, has mobilized more than 760,000 volunteers to serve the summit. Many of them are regular street security patrols composed of retired or elderly people.

These volunteers now play important roles in maintaining community security, guiding residents on garbage classification and meditating deputes.

A resident in the city's Shangcheng district surnamed Zhou told the Global Times that they have helped the city conduct a thorough survey of household gas tanks, which may pose a safety risk.

Volunteers like Zhou are dubbed "Wulin Dama" after a local district, Wulin, in a similar fashion to the "Chaoyang people," a Beijing term for local informers.

 Hangzhou is already home to tens of thousands of foreigners. The city's first employment service center for foreigners was inaugurated earlier this month.

Hu Fangxiao, head of the center, said the G20 summit has accelerated the city's internationalization. "We want to attract more foreign people to seek job opportunities in Hangzhou," he said.

China plans to steer the G20 to invest more in development and put the matter at the top of the macro policy agenda, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press briefing on preparations for the G20 summit on Thursday.

He said China wants coordinated macro policy among G20 members as well as robust, sustainable and balanced growth through innovation and reform.



Xinhua contributed to this story