8216;BRIC countries represent economic shift8217;

8220;Twenty years ago,the President8217;s most important global financial trip would have been to Europe. On Wednesday it is to Beijing.

8220;Clearly,the developing world needs a legitimate seat at the table so that all of us can better address our shared challenges,8221; Kerry said.

8220;When President Obama announced from Pittsburgh that the G20 would replace the G8,Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew called it an implicit acknowledgement that the post-World War II order had come to an end,8221; he said.

8220;We have already begun this process by recognising the G20 as the premier economic coordinating forum,and it has made encouraging progress since.

8220;A year ago,at the height of the crisis,it convened for the first time at the leader8217;s level and launched the largest and most coordinated fiscal and monetary stimulus ever undertaken,8221; Kerry said.

In his statement,the Senator said the global economy has changed,quickly and profoundly.

8220;Twenty years ago,worldwide capital flows were less than 20 per cent of what they are on Wednesday. Ten years ago,much of Asia was in economic disarray,8221; he said.

8220;Today,the old order has been shaken up by new realities,emerging powers,and entirely new financial entities.

8220;Increasingly,the economic policies of any single nation,no matter how powerful,are inadequate to meet the demands of a world where both risk and capital move globally,8221; Kerry said.

Noting that the US should be prudent in its response,Kerry said: 8220;Capital is flowing back into many emerging markets,and the budgets of many donor nations around the world are strained.

8220;We must ask ourselves: Do these institutions truly need additional funds right now? If so,how much is appropriate?

And finally,should new funding be provided temporarily or permanently?8221;

Any increase in funding,he argued,must be coupled with a reevaluation to ensure that these institutions 8211; IMF and World Bank 8212; are actually fulfilling their mandate to focus on the world8217;s poor.

Our own funds and development spending are limited,and our focus should not be on the needs of middle income countries,he noted.

8220;The G20 has singled out climate change and food security as challenges demanding greater attention,and I agree. Banks deciding whether to fund major energy projects in developing countries,particularly middle-income countries,should take care not to lock them into a high-carbon future that will be costly for all of us 8211; and especially devastating for the worlds poorest,8221; he said.