China’s President Xi Jinping speaks at APEC CEO Summit in the central city of Da Nang on November 10. (Source: VNA) Da Nang (VNA) – China’s President Xi Jinping stressedthe need to continue working together for a bright future for the Asia-Pacific inhis keynote speech at the APEC CEO Summit in the central city of Da Nang onNovember 10.
He said facing the profound changes in the global economy, the Asia-Pacificeconomies must advance with the trend of times, live up to theirresponsibility and work together to deliver a bright future of development andprosperity for the Asia-Pacific.
“First, we should continue to foster anopen economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress, whileself-seclusion leaves one behind. We the Asia-Pacific economies know this toowell from our own development experience,” he noted.
He went on: “We should put in place a regional cooperation framework thatensures consultation among equals, wide participation and shared benefits,build an open Asia-Pacific economy and promote trade and investmentliberalization and facilitation. We should make economic globalization moreopen, inclusive and balanced so that it benefits different countries and peopleof different social groups.”
“We should proactively adapt to theevolving international division of labor and actively reshape the global valuechain so as to upgrade our economies and build up new strengths. We shouldsupport the multilateral trading regime and practice open regionalism to makedeveloping members benefit more from international trade and investment.”
He stressed that the building of a free trade area of theAsia-Pacific (FTAAP) is the long-cherished dream of the business community inthe region.
“It was in response to the call of the business community that APEC leaders,for the first time, initiated the FTAAP vision in Hanoi in 2006. In 2014, theFTAAP process was launched in Beijing. We should get into action, fullyimplement the Beijing Roadmap, move toward the FTAAP and provide aninstitutional underpinning for growing an open economy in the Asia-Pacific,” hesaid.
In the speech, Xi also underlined the need to continue to pursue innovation-drivendevelopment and create new drivers of growth, enhance connectivity and achieveinterconnected development, and make economic development more inclusive anddeliver its benefits to people in the region.
He asked to invest more in education, medical care, employmentand other areas that are important to people’s livelihood, and address povertyand the widening gap between the rich and the poor, reach out to disadvantagedgroups, improve the business environment for micro, small and medium-sizedenterprises, and enable the workforce to better adapt to industrialtransformation, so that everyone will have his fair share of opportunity andbenefits.-VNA
