RENEWED WORRIES OVER THE EUROPEAN DEBT crisis have considerably beclouded the opening of the G20 summit today in Cannes, France.

However, despite being the current principal source of concern for the global economy, the evolving sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone does not need to be all doom and gloom for the leaders of the 20 major industrial and developing economies.

It is also a test of leadership for both European policymakers and all those who are attending the two-day summit.

Both Europe and the international community can no longer afford to dither through another crisis and fail to act on a much-needed spirit of bold reform.

It is high time for global leaders to correctly and comprehensively recognize the root causes of the imbalances in the global economy and respond appropriately.

On Tuesday, the Greek government shocked Europe and provoked chaos in the global markets with its call for a national referendum on the austerity measures included in the rescue package agreed by European leaders just last week.

Greece is undoubtedly at the heart of debt worries in Europe. And the fact that its plan for a referendum created so much uncertainty and put the entire global economy at risk reveals how fragile the confidence is that the rescue package helped to restore in the markets.

The G20 leaders definitely have to face the burning issue of helping stabilize the European financial markets, and promote economic recovery and development in this region.

It is simply impossible that the global economy has any chance of surviving a full-blown European crisis without falling into a double-dip recession.

The interconnectedness of economies around the globe means major developing countries like China will also suffer if the eurozone countries fail to solve their sovereign debt problems. It is thus in the interests of all if the G20 summit can bring about concrete results on easing the European debt crisis.

Nonetheless, while the international community has an obligation to help prevent the crisis from spreading to the global markets, the onus is largely on European policymakers to show more unity and determination in seeking a painful but credible way to grow their economies out of the sovereign debt crisis.

Before European policymakers can come up with a eurozone rescue plan that is fair enough to rally widespread support for shared sacrifice among their peoples in the short term and sufficiently forward-looking to generate sustainable growth, it is unrealistic to expect more funds from major emerging economies as a silver bullet that can resolve Europe's crisis.

This is a lesson that not only European policymakers must draw, it is also a sharp reminder to the G20 leaders that they should make joint efforts to lead economic restructuring and growth around the world.

(China Daily 11/03/2011 page8)