BEIJING, Feb 10 – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed the opening ceremony of the first 2026 APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on Tuesday. This marks China’s third time hosting APEC after a 12-year gap, underscoring its renewed commitment to regional leadership.
Wang Yi emphasized President Xi Jinping’s vision: upholding APEC’s core mission of boosting economic growth and improving livelihoods. He called for shared opportunities through open development, mutual benefits, advancing inclusive economic globalization, and building an Asia-Pacific community. The goal is a prosperous, stable, open, inclusive, and harmonious region.
For this year’s agenda, China has selected ‘Building an Asia-Pacific Community and Promoting Shared Prosperity’ as the theme. Priorities include openness, innovation, and cooperation. Wang urged reaffirming APEC’s founding purpose, focusing on its future trajectory, and producing a leaders’ document with clear guidelines and substantial content at the upcoming summit.
Key actions include expanding the path to an Asia-Pacific free trade area, driving digital, efficient, and green transformations via innovation, respecting members’ diversity, addressing development governance, and deepening practical cooperation across sectors.
Wang noted that APEC’s ‘China Year’ aligns with the start of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. China will offer new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific and world through achievements in Chinese-style modernization.
From February 1 to 10, the Guangzhou meeting and related sessions saw in-depth discussions on the theme and priorities. Parties launched broad cooperation initiatives and compiled outcomes for the November informal leaders’ meeting.