G7 leaders gather in France without China despite its economic clout

As U.S. President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders convene in France this week, China's absence from the informal club sparks renewed questions about whether the world's most economically powerful nations can govern global affairs without the world's second-largest economy at the table.

China was excluded when the G7 began in 1975 at a French château, a time when the country was in turmoil under Mao Zedong. But China's economic transformation over the past five decades has been dramatic. Its economy now dwarfs those of Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada—leaving only the United States ahead.

"From being 'only a tiny, benign, panda bear' in 1975, China has become a great global dragon," says John Kirton, a University of Toronto specialist on the G7. "So many understandably ask: Would the G7 and the global community be better off if China became a member of the G7 club? A plausible answer is 'Yes.'"

But an unwritten G7 rule has always been that membership is reserved for democracies. The founding leaders declared in 1975 that they were "each responsible for the government of an open, democratic society, dedicated to individual liberty and social advancement." China would not have met that standard under Mao, nor does it now. By multiple measures—including the annual Freedom in the World study, the World Press Freedom Index, and the Canadian Fraser Institute's ranking of economic freedom—China lags far behind G7 nations on civil liberties.

Trump mused last year about possibly expanding the club to include China, saying it's "not a bad idea." But the democracy requirement remains a barrier.