L'AQUILA, Italy: State Councillor Dai Bingguo stepped up to represent President Hu Jintao at yesterday's summit meeting of the five emerging economies, where nations talked about promoting the growth of developing countries during the financial crisis.

The session of the Group of Five (G5) nations - China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa - was held parallel to the summit of the Group of Eight (G8), which started yesterday in the Italian city of L'Aquila, less than 100 days after the city was devastated by an earthquake.

Hu cut short his visit to Italy and returned to Beijing Wednesday in response to the riot in Xinjiang. Hu asked Dai to represent him at the summit.