Story highlights
Pollution, residents cleared out in preparation for China's big G20 debut in Hangzhou
China wants to focus on economic issues, rather than the South China Sea dispute
World leaders touch down in the Chinese city of Hangzhou this week for the G20 summit and Beijing is determined it will proceed without a hitch.
Factories are shuttered, skies are clear and security is tight. Local residents have been given seven days extra vacation time and discounted tours to destinations outside the city to ensure Hangzhou is free of crowds and traffic.
Meanwhile, thousands of migrant workers have left the city due to the halt in their work lives and the growing inconvenience caused by G20 preparation measures.
What will be discussed at the summit? How has China prepared? And why is it in Hangzhou anyway?
Here’s five things you need to know.
China takes the lead
The Hangzhou meeting will be the first G20 China has hosted, and only the second held in Asia since 2008.
The G20’s first high-profile meeting was in Washington D.C. in 2008, after the fall of Lehman Brothers bank and the start of the global financial crisis.
An alternative to the more exclusive G7, it was designed as a way to create conversation at the top levels of international government and try to ensure disasters, like the financial crisis, were avoided in the future.