Xi delivers speech at Session I of 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the first session of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting on Friday in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Upon his arrival at the venue, Xi was welcomed by ROK President Lee Jae-myung.

In his speech at the gathering, Xi put forward a five-point proposal for promoting a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization and building an Asia-Pacific community.

He called for joint efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system, build an open economic environment in the region, keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, advance the digital and green transformation of trade, and promote universally beneficial and inclusive development.

The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is scheduled to run through Saturday.

The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission have boarded the spacecraft for a flight to China’s Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to blast off at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT) from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The three Chinese astronauts, commander Zhu Yangzhu, spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, climbed aboard the spaceship with the help of technicians.

Following the launch, the astronauts will complete an in-orbit rotation with the outgoing Shenzhou-21 crew, and one of them will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

Notably, astronaut Lai Ka-ying is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program, and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.