[en] The concept of global conformal invariance (GCI) opens the way of applying algebraic techniques, developed in the context of two-dimensional chiral conformal field theory, to a higher (even) dimensional spacetime. In particular, a system of GCI scalar fields of conformal dimension two gives rise to a Lie algebra of harmonic bilocal fields, V_M(x, y), where the M span a finite dimensional real matrix algebra M closed under transposition. The associative algebra M is irreducible iff its commutant M' coincides with one of the three real division rings. The Lie algebra of (the modes of) the bilocal fields is in each case an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra: a central extension of sp(∞,R) corresponding to the field R of reals, of u(∞, ∞) associated with the field C of complex numbers, and of so*(4∞) related to the algebra H of quaternions. They give rise to quantum field theory models with superselection sectors governed by the (global) gauge groups O(N), U(N) and U(N,H)=Sp(2N), respectively