Leaders insisted the call for a breakthrough by year-end in the troubled Doha round of trade talks represented real progress, but gave no signs of specific concessions needed to reach a deal.

The summit is the latest in a long string of heads of government meetings to promise prompt action on Doha. Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, gave a conditional welcome to the G20 statement, but emphasised that it needed to be backed up. “What we need now is for this strong show of support to be translated into action at the negotiating table in Geneva,” he said.