China will prioritize openness, innovation and cooperation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) "China Year" it is to host in 2026, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Lin made the remarks in response to a media query on the issue, when he noted that with the opportunity of hosting the APEC meeting, China seeks to work with all parties to build an Asia-Pacific community, advance practical cooperation in the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific, connectivity, digital economy and artificial intelligence and inject greater vitality and momentum into the development of the Asia-Pacific region.
"With the unanimous agreement of all APEC members, the theme of APEC 2026 is set as 'Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together.' The Asia-Pacific community is more than just a goal, but means concrete actions. To this end, the APEC China Year will designate openness, innovation, and cooperation as its three priority areas," Lin said.
Calling openness the lifeline of Asia-Pacific prosperity, he emphasized the need to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system, foster an open regional economic environment, and raise the level of connectivity across the Asia-Pacific.
Lin said innovation is the engine of Asia-Pacific prosperity, calling for efforts to seize opportunities presented by innovation-driven development, push for greater consensus in artificial intelligence and digital economy, amplify the empowering effect of new technologies, and bridge the digital divide across the region.
"The Asia-Pacific is the most complementary economic plate in terms of resource endowments and development stages. APEC has built a comprehensive, rich and multi-layered mechanism for practical cooperation, which is an advantage unique to APEC. We will make full use of every APEC mechanism, translate members' complementarities into opportunities to broaden collaboration. In line with the development needs of different economies, we will deepen cooperation in fiscal and financial sectors, food security, energy, SMEs, transport, tourism, human resources and health, and jointly push for a success of the APEC China Year, so as to make new contributions to economic growth in the Asia-Pacific and the world at large," he said.
China to prioritize openness, innovation, cooperation for APEC 2026: spokesman
