Dalian (China): The Group of Eight should be replaced by a forum including a greater number of participants, including India and China, and dealing with a broader range of issues, European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said on July 24.

"We would rather favour a sort of economic security council, where countries like China, India, Brazil or South Africa plus the present G-8 members would sit around the table," Lamy said during a visit to the Chinese city of Dalian.

"We would support a revamping, a reshuffling of the G-8, which is a bit of an old, dated formula. It was created 30 years ago and I don't know of any institution of that kind which has been created 30 years ago and is now very relevant," he said.

Lamy was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of Economic Ministers from Asia and Europe gathered for discussions focusing on restarting stalled global trade talks.

The new forum replacing the G-8 should not just deal with narrow economic issues but also include matters such as energy, labour and the environment on its agenda, he said.

It would not be a problem for China to gain membership, even though the current G-8 consists of industrialised Democracies, he said.

"It's a very informal setting, there is no rule about membership, there is no institution," he said.

Speculation that China might one day join the G-8 was fuelled earlier this year when was invited to attend talks on development running parallel with a summit of the Group in France.