China's first-ever invitation to a Group of Seven meeting of the top industrialized nations was "useful," but not necessarily a sign that Beijing would become a member of the exclusive group, Britain's top finance official said Saturday.
"It was a very useful dialogue, very open, very informal, very friendly," said UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown a day af-ter the G7 gathering in Washington.
"The discussion with China was, they were invited to part of the meeting, to a special session when we discussed issues that we shared in common. And I do not think it was ever proposed at any time ... at this stage or at any stage, that China was joining the G7."
Analysts point out that China's growing importance in the global economy make it impossible for the G7 to ignore.
Some G7 officials and analysts also hope that allowing China into G7 consultations will enable the Chinese economy to become more deeply integrated into the international financial system -- notably by shifting the yuan to a floating exchange regime and speeding up deregulation in the country.
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