G20 meeting shouldering huge responsibilities

Asia has come of age. The region's rising powers - China, India, Korea and Indonesia - are sitting at the global high table to decide on ways to reshape the world's financial and economic order.

As leaders from the Group of 20 nations converge on London this week, there are expectations it will produce concrete steps to revive economic growth, greater funding for the International Monetary Fund, and an understanding of the new financial architecture to restore trust in the financial system.

Asian policy makers are looking for two other critical assurances from the meeting - one, that developed countries will keep their markets open; and two, that global capital flows needed to finance trade and investment will remain unchecked.