Security members guard on the road to the makeshift media village for 2009 G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 7, 2009.

A helicopter is seen flying above the makeshift media village for 2009 G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy.

While the venue for the summit, namely the Italian town of L'Aquila, is an earthquake-stricken area which is still under reconstruction, the global financial system and the world economy also need rebuilding amid the financial crisis.

NEW PUSH FOR NEW RULES

As the host, Italy has put it high on the agenda of the three-day summit to revamp the global financial system and rewrite ground rules for world economic activities.

"The main issues on the Italian presidency's agenda are a response to the global economic and financial crisis, and the restoration of grassroots confidence and a boost to growth on a more solid and balanced basis, also through the definition of new, shared ground rules for economic activities," the Italian government said on its official website for the G8 summit.

The financial crisis, which broke out last autumn, has dragged the world into the worst-ever recession in 60 years, prompting international efforts to strengthen financial regulation so as to prevent recurrence of the crisis.

Leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies met for the first time on the financial crisis in Washington last November, marking the beginning of global financial reform.

The Washington summit was soon followed by a similar one in London early April, where G20 leaders reached broad agreements on stricter financial rules and an overhaul of international financial institutions.

A third summit is scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh of the United States this September, while the G8 summit goes between.

"The L'Aquila summit will set out principles, which will be the basis for the G20 summit to establish specific measures, including reform of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in a recent interview with Xinhua.