A seat at the top table comes with a price tag. Chinese leaders at the G8 summit in Hokkaido are likely to find themselves under pressure on two specific fronts – the currency and carbon emissions.

In recent weeks, China has been pushing back quite effectively against some of the external pressure it faces to accelerate the appreciation of the renminbi. Government officials have joined the chorus of concern about the rapid drop in value of the dollar, which some countries believe is a cause of global inflationary pressure.