Nearly all G20 leaders agreed today on the need for free and fair trade, but some differences of opinion mean officials drafting the summit's final communique still had a long night's work ahead.
This is according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel was speaking at the end of the first day of the G20's Hamburg summit, where US President Donald Trump's protectionist instincts and opposition to the Paris Climate Agreement risked isolating him in a forum set up to improve global policy coordination after the 2007 financial crisis.
"On the issue of trade, virtually everyone believes we needfree but also fair trade," Mrs Merkel said.
"However, I can predict that as far as trade is concerned in the communique, the sherpas have a lot of work ahead of them tonight," she added.
Sean Whelan explains why the G20 summit is important pic.twitter.com/t7HXtwL7cR
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Discussions remained fraught on trade.
"I hope they can bring us a good result tonight. But here the discussions are very difficult, I don't want to talk around that," she said.
Merkel added that Trump had attended the first part of the leaders' discussion on climate policy, despite his differences from other states in this area, even taking the floor.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping today called on members of the Group of 20 nations to champion an open world economy, strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination and forestall risks in financial markets.
Speaking at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Xi also urged member states to follow a "multilateral trade regime" as global growth remains unsteady despite recovery signs.
The Chinese President's comments come amid concerns over growing protectionist pressures, including from US President Donald Trump's administration.
"We must remain committed to openness and mutual benefit for all so as to increase the size of the global economic 'pie'," it quoted Xi as saying.
The world economy is still troubled by deep-seated problems and faces many uncertainties and destabilising factors, he added.
Beijing has struggled to cope with weak global demand and faces risks from growing US trade protectionism under Trump and his "America First" agenda.
In January, Xi, as a keynote speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, offered a vigorous defence of globalisation and signalled Beijing's desire to play a bigger role on the world stage.
US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had their first formal face-to-face talks this afternoon on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
"It's an honour to be with you," said Mr Trump, while Mr Putin told the US leader: "I'm delighted to meet you."
Mr Trump had said he wants to find ways to work with Mr Putin, a goal made more difficult by sharp differences over Russia's actions in Syria and Ukraine, and allegations Moscow meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.
That means every facial expression and physical gesture will be analysed as much as any words the two leaders utter as the world tries to read how well Mr Trump, a property tycoon and former reality television star, gets along with Mr Putin, a former spy.
