LONDON -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in London on Wednesday to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit, which will be dominated by discussions of measures to tackle the international financial crisis.

The London Summit brings together leaders of the G20 and representatives of international organizations and financial institutions to work cooperatively to restore stability and stimulate global economic growth.

At Thursday's summit, the leaders will focus on such subjects as enhancing the coordination of macroeconomic policies, pushing for necessary reforms in the world financial system, and stabilizing global financial market.

The G20 summit provides an important platform for the international community to jointly tackle the global economic and financial crisis, President Hu told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The London summit, as a follow-up to a meeting last November in Washington, would be highly significant in restoring global confidence, stabilizing international financial markets and pushing for the restoration of growth in the world economy, Hu said.

China as a responsible country would work with all other parties attending the summit to help yield "positive" and "practical" results, the president said.

With the impact of the global financial crisis on the real economy deepening, priorities should be taken by various countries to adopt economic stimulus measures in line with their own situations and work hand in hand to promote growth and employment and improve people's lives, Hu said.

Efforts should also be quickly made to stabilize global financial markets and earnestly give play to the role of finance in spurring the real economy to restore confidence of the people and enterprises, Hu said.

"The international financial system should undergo necessary reforms in an all-round, balanced, gradual and effective manner to prevent a similar crisis in the future," the president said.

Efforts should be made, too, to prevent trade and investment protectionism in order to reduce the impact of the crisis on the world's nations, especially the developing ones, he said.

As a responsible member of the international community, China has taken an active part in dealing with the financial crisis, Hu said.

China will continue to work with the international community in enhancing macroeconomic policy coordination, pushing for necessary reforms in the world financial system and safeguarding the stability of the multilateral trade system in a bid to contribute to a restoration of global economic growth, Hu added.

According to the British government, host of the meeting, the goals of the summit are to secure the world's economic recovery and to agree on the contours of a strengthened financial system.

Other goals include an agreement on the principles, priorities and processes for the reform of international financial institutions.

At the Washington summit last November, the leaders of the G20 states agreed to enhance cooperation and work together to restore global growth and achieve needed reforms in the world's financial system.

"The global financial crisis that started last year has taken its toll on the world economy on an unprecedented scale. To cope with the crisis, a strong signal must be sent from the upcoming London summit that the international community is determined to act together to get through the time of hardship," Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said in an article published in the Times newspaper on March 27.

Wang said that to overcome the current difficulties, the international community should enhance coordination on macroeconomic policies.

"Efforts should be made to expand trade and investment co-operation to bolster economic growth, step up cooperation among small and medium-size businesses to ensure employment stability, and strengthen cooperation in energy conservation and emissions reduction, environmental protection and development of new energy technologies to nurture growth points for the world economy," Wang said.

On the sidelines of the London summit, President Hu was expected to meet his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and discuss Sino-U.S. relations and other important issues of common concern.

The White House announced earlier that the two leaders will meet on Wednesday in London.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Obama took office in January.

In a telephone conversation with Obama on January 30, Hu said that China is ready to strengthen dialogue, promote mutual trust and expand cooperation with the United States in a bid to confront various global challenges together and push forward a stable development of the Sino-U.S. relationship.

Obama said in the conversation that the U.S. is expecting closer cooperation with China on major international and regional issues, and that the American government is willing to join hands with China to develop a more active and constructive bilateral relationship.

The Chinese president is also expected to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other leaders of G20 states on the sidelines of the summit.

Later in the evening, President Hu, together with other leaders, is expected to attend a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II and a working dinner hold by Brown.

The G20 consists of China, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, the United States, and the European Union.

To ensure a balanced regional representation, the chair of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations and the president of the European Commission are also invited. The chairman of the African Union Commission will also attend.

In addition, Britain has also invited the heads of key international institutions, including the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund to contribute to relevant parts of the agenda.