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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. World leaders announced on Friday that the Group of 20 developed and developing nations would become the top global economic forum, spreading influence to emerging powers such as China, India and Indonesia. It replaces the Group of Eight.

The dramatic shift was initially announced by the White House as President Barack Obama hosted his first major international summit here.

The meeting was marred by occasional violence as anticapitalist protesters clashed with police. G-20 meetings are a magnet for activists opposed to what they see as an undemocratic body promoting globalization and free market policies.

“Today, leaders endorsed the G-20 as the premier forum for their international economic cooperation,” a statement said. “This decision brings to the table the countries needed to build a stronger, more balanced global economy, reform the financial system, and lift the lives of the poorest.”

The measure underscores how the world’s balance of power has shifted since a small club of wealthy, industrial countries began meeting in the mid-1970s in an effort to respond to oil shocks, stagflation and other economic crises of that period.

The G-8 — which was made up of wealthy nations Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States — had served as the premier economic forum since 1975 and held closely watched annual summits. The G-8 will, however, continue to meet on matters of common importance such as global security.

The G-20 is an international body that meets to discuss economic issues. Its members — 19 countries with some of the world’s biggest industrial and emerging economies, including Indonesia, plus the European Union — represent about 90 percent of the world’s gross national product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the global population. The G-20, which represents a far broader range of the world’s industrialized economies than the more Atlantic-oriented G-8, has taken on a new prominence in the economic crisis

G-20 leaders pledged to tighten financial regulations after last year’s meltdown. Banks must set aside more and higher quality capital by the end of 2012, they said. New capital rules will be phased in as financial conditions improve and economic recovery is assured.

The group said the summit agreed that bankers’ bonuses should be curbed and called for government stimulus measures to be maintained until the global economic recovery was cemented. World leaders promised to work for comprehensive IMF reform and there was a long-term consensus on the need to address imbalances in voting power, but some European nations have balked at losing influence.

For Brazil, China, India and other emerging countries like Indonesia, it was crucial to achieve a breakthrough in negotiations at Pittsburgh so the IMF could endorse reforms at its annual meeting on Oct. 6 and 7 in Istanbul.

Summit delegates pledged to take tough and lasting measures to bring order back to the markets, shore up failing institutions, save jobs and rekindle growth.

Not all seemed enthusiastic about the landmark announcement of the group’s new role. Japan’s new left-leaning Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama cautioned that the group may be too unwieldy to make quick decisions.

“Under such circumstances, talks could easily be led by bureaucrats. It should be leaders themselves who exercise leadership,” he said.

Agencies