The plan to include China's top finance officials at next month's Group of Seven meeting is recognition of how impossible it has become to co-ordinate global economic policy without input from Beijing.
The value of the yuan, for instance, has been on the group's radar for many months, but its proclamations on the desirability of currency flexibility would carry much more weight if China were a party to the talks.
The same goes for the price of oil, which should play a prominent role in October's meeting. As a big consumer and importer, China could well come under pressure to do its part by reining in demand and implementing conservation measures. Nonetheless, efforts such as setting targets for production and prices, or even discussing the potential impact the recent price rises might have on international commerce, have less meaning if one of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies is left on the sidelines.
By inviting China to ministerial-level talks, the G7 is arresting its slide into talking shop status. Finance Minister Jin Renqing and People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan are expected to attend. The next step will have to be a formal reconfiguration of G7 membership to include China and possibly India.
The upcoming Washington meeting is likely to sound a cautious, rather than gloomy, note. Oil prices might be higher than many economists would like, but growth forecasts for the main economies have recently been revised upwards as a global recovery takes hold. The group might find that crude should be far below the present US$47 per barrel, but it is unclear what the G7 can do about it other than to urge producer countries to keep the pipelines open.
On the China front, there is likely to be continued pressure for Beijing to move away from its yuan peg to the US dollar, as well as a focus on how it can slow an overheated economy without excessive disruption to its own and other markets. Certainly, it is better that such debates take place with China at the table.