1st press briefing held as Shenzhen gets ready for APEC Economic Leaders' Week

The media center of the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Week hosted its first press briefing on Saturday in Shenzhen City, south China's Guangdong Province, with officials announcing that all venues and facilities are ready.

At the briefing, officials said that in addition to preparing the venues, Shenzhen has advanced support work across port clearance, urban operations and volunteer services.

The city has set up dedicated channels for meeting delegates at all sea, land, air and rail ports. Foreign-language signs have been standardized at over 100,000 locations across the city, and taxis have been equipped with bilingual announcements to facilitate language services, according to the briefing.

For urban transport, more than 1.5 million vehicle owners have voluntarily registered for green travel during the event. Some metro lines will reduce headways to two minutes, and 56 new bus-metro connection routes have been added to boost public transport capacity, according to the briefing.

The briefing also highlighted Guangdong's progress in developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), a region for which Shenzhen is an integral node.

The GBA's economic output exceeded 15 trillion yuan (around 2.25 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, making it one of the most economically dynamic regions in China.

As one of China's first special economic zones, Shenzhen has developed for more than 40 years. Its GDP in 2025 was 14,000 times what it was in 1980, when the special economic zone was established, transforming from a border town into an international metropolis.

The 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in Shenzhen on Nov 18-19. The media center for the event opened on Wednesday at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

1st press briefing held as Shenzhen gets ready for APEC Economic Leaders' Week

European countries could join talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict once their intentions and willingness to contribute to the peace process become clear, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Russia would consider expanding the format of talks after gaining a clearer understanding of Europe's intentions and readiness to contribute to the peace process, Peskov said.

Russia remains open to contacts with European countries, but they need to express their willingness to engage and appoint authorized representatives, he said.

Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin has never refused to communicate with European countries and was never the one to initiate the breakdown in relations, adding that it was European countries themselves that declined dialog.

Regarding the next round of trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, Peskov said Moscow expects it to take place in the foreseeable future.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement following talks with U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that Europe would send representatives to directly participate in the next round of trilateral talks, with a voice in the discussions.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the issue of European participation in talks regarding the Ukraine crisis was not discussed during Russia's meeting with Witkoff and Kushner.

Expanding Ukraine talks depends on European intentions: Kremlin