Building consensus through dialogue and promoting development through cooperation (APEC China Year: Open Innovation Cooperation)

The Second Senior Officials' Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was held in Shanghai from May 18th to 19th. This meeting gathers the early gains of APEC cooperation this year and lays the groundwork for various events and leaders' meetings in the second half of the year. Senior officials and relevant personnel from participating economies stated in an interview with our reporter that the meeting has provided an important platform for APEC members to build consensus, and they are willing to strengthen cooperation with China to promote the construction of the Asia Pacific community from goals to actions and from blueprints to reality.

Jos é Alberto, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Director of the Planning and Negotiation Strategy Department of the Mexican Ministry of Economy, stated that APEC is committed to carrying out multi-level and multi field cooperation, promoting exchanges and cooperation among various economies, and its importance is self-evident. Faced with numerous and complex challenges, economies need to work together, share practices, and enhance the resilience of the Asia Pacific region and global value chains while promoting their own development. China is an important partner of Mexico, and both sides are continuously strengthening practical economic cooperation to promote mutual benefit and win-win outcomes

Sato Damosomato, Director General of the Asia Pacific and Africa Department of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that it is of great significance for economies to gather together and work together under the APEC framework. He expressed that Indonesia appreciates China's efforts to strengthen the construction of the multilateral trading system, supports China's important role as the host of APEC in 2026, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to jointly promote stronger and freer trade cooperation in the region.

Rahoy Ako, APEC Affairs Advisor of Papua New Guinea, stated that the theme of "Building an Asia Pacific Community and Promoting Common Prosperity" aligns with APEC's original intention of promoting joint progress and common development among all members. Papua New Guinea attaches great importance to its relations with China and is willing to continue to maintain and deepen the friendship between the two sides, and strengthen coordination and cooperation with China in multilateral affairs

Hu Lio Chen, Chairman of the APEC Trade and Investment Committee, said, "China has always adhered to opening up to the outside world and firmly promoted trade liberalization and facilitation. Its positive contributions deserve full recognition. Over the years, China's role in this field has become increasingly prominent. This year, China's hosting of APEC provides important opportunities for all parties to deepen trade and investment cooperation. ”

Chen Enterprise, Chairman of the Singapore Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee, said that "China's research and application of artificial intelligence technology has achieved rapid development." He looks forward to taking the APEC "China Year" as an opportunity to promote the transformation of China's advanced practical experience and application system into regional public goods, help narrow the digital divide, and enable innovation achievements to benefit more APEC members.

25 years ago, the 9th APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting was held in Shanghai, opening a new chapter in Asia Pacific cooperation. Today, Shanghai is welcoming visitors from all over the world with a more open attitude. Vietnamese representative Nguyen Jin Thang said that Shanghai's vibrant energy is impressive. Vietnam will host the APEC meeting in 2027, hoping to use this visit as an opportunity to learn from China's practice and experience in hosting large-scale international multilateral conferences, and continuously expand dialogue and exchanges with various economies.

Felipe Henriques, Director of the Multilateral Economy Department of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the various initiatives proposed by China are in line with the concerns of various economies. From Shanghai to Beijing, and then to Shenzhen, China is hosting APEC for the third time. We believe that under the guidance of the APEC spirit and relying on the open and candid dialogue platform built by China, all parties will be able to gather more consensus.