简体中文
Zhang Wei, general manager of a Beijing-based wine company, pins high hopes on the upcoming 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, considering it a good occasion to acquaint himself with the economy of the Asia-Pacific region.
Though the lion's share of his company's profits come from the domestic market, Zhang's company sells wine to other APEC members, such as Japan, Canada and the United States, and he hopes his company can expand business to the entire Asia-Pacific region.
"Compared with 13 years ago, Chinese companies are becoming more international," said Zhang, who has attended some previous APEC meetings.
An increasing number of Chinese enterprises are doing business overseas and Chinese entrepreneurs are more willing to express themselves in international arenas such as the APEC meeting, he observed.
"I expect to do more business in the Asia-Pacific region and I'm paying close attention to every signal being sent from the APEC meetings," said Zhang.
The world is watching, too. A recent report published on the website of the Wall Street Journal predicted that, on economic issues, "trade and infrastructure are likely to dominate," while Japanese website The Diplomat said that the meeting will align with China's vision for a region connected through railroads, ports, highways, and pipelines.
"Home court" again
Thirteen years fly, the APEC comes back to China again, while the country and the world have been different.
When hosting the APEC summit in Shanghai in 2001, China had just completed negotiations for its accession to the World Trade Organization and won the bid for the 2008 Olympics. The country was starting to integrate with the international system.
The shock of the 9/11 terrorist attack was also fresh. "The subject of anti-terrorism was frequently mentioned at that APEC meeting," said Ruan Zongze, vice president of the China Institute of International Studies.
In 2001, China ranked as the world's sixth-largest economy, while Japan was second-largest.
That year, Chinese media hailed the Shanghai APEC as "the highest-level and biggest multilateral event ever held in China."
Over the past 13 years, China has hosted two other influential international events -- the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai Expo. China has grown to be the world's second-largest economy, just after the United States. It has also become the world's largest foreign currency reserve and the world's largest goods trader. The country has been at the center of the international stage.
The international situation is undergoing significant changes as well, as the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s spread from the West throughout the world and is still casting a shadow over the global economy. In June, the World Bank cut this year's global growth forecast.
Though China remains one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, some outside the country are anxious about whether the country can achieve sustainable growth, and they consider China's economic slowdown one of the biggest challenges for the world. The upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be an important window for those with doubts to understand the trend in China's economic development.
"The growth of China's influence in the international arena has been reflected in the APEC arena. In earlier years, other members paid little attention to China's participation in APEC meetings, but now things are changing," said 85-year-old Wang Yusheng, a former APEC senior official.
Meanwhile, the importance of the Asia-Pacific region, which includes the world's top three largest economies, has also been rising.
APEC, founded 25 years ago, has gradually transformed the "Asia-Pacific" from a mere geographic concept to a body for economic cooperation involving 2.8 billion people and half of the global economic aggregate. APEC members account for 40 percent of the world's population, 57 percent of total global GDP and 46 percent of global trade.
The Asia-Pacific is now the most dynamic and promising geo-economic region in the world, widely regarded as an engine driving world economic growth.
China has begun to integrate with the Asia-Pacific at a faster pace. In 2013, 60 percent of China's total foreign trade was with other APEC members, 83 percent of its utilized foreign investment was from them, and 69 percent of outbound Chinese investment flowed to them.
Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific has relied more and more on China. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China now contributes over 50 percent to Asian economic growth, with every one percentage point of China's economic growth driving the Asian economy by 0.3 percentage point.
"That's why people put high expectations on the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting," said Ruan Zongze, adding that the upcoming summit will try to answer a question: How will the Asia-Pacific region continue to serve as an engine for the world's growth?
Shaping the future
At the upcoming APEC forum, Asian, American and Oceanian representatives will work together toward this year's APEC theme, "Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership."
Absent from two previous APEC summits, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to show up at the Beijing meeting. The leaders' summit meeting between the world's two largest economies will affect not only bilateral relations, but the entire global system.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will also meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the fifth time this year on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
The Beijing meeting will also try to further shape the new type of relations among major powers.
"Against such a backdrop, the meeting will send a signal of dialogue, cooperation, inclusiveness and understanding," said Tang Guoqiang, chairman of the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.
For former senior APEC official Wang Yusheng, the most impressive achievement of APEC was the "Bogor Declaration" reached in 1994, which promised to realize free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region no later than 2020.
This year's APEC meeting is expected to make concrete progress toward this goal. It will take up three major topics: "Advancing Regional Economic Integration," "Promoting Innovative Development, Economic Reform and Growth," and "Strengthening Comprehensive Development in Infrastructure and Connectivity."
Several recent topics in economic integration, such as the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and the development of a global value chain, have drawn attention even before the meeting.
Zhang Jun, vice chair of the 2014 APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM), said in August that it is widely agreed that APEC members should continue to promote Asia-Pacific economic integration and kick off the FTAAP process.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said recently that through coordination and cooperation with APEC members, an important consensus will be reached on the launch of the FTAAP process during the meeting in Beijing, thus sending out a clear signal of enhancing regional integration and turning this long-standing vision into concrete actions.
Connectivity through infrastructure is another hot topic. Last month, financial ministers from 21 countries, including China, India and Singapore, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance infrastructure development in Asia.
"The connectivity building to be discussed at this APEC meeting will not only be development of infrastructure but also simplification of customs procedures and cross-border travel," Ruan Zongze said.
In addition, new industries such as the Internet economy, the maritime "blue economy" and the "green economy" are expected to provide a new economic driving force for the region.
The Internet economy is another driver for the Asia-Pacific region, with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba debuting at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in September.
Many of the APEC topics were raised by China this time.
China's proposals are in line with the targets of APEC featuring free and open trade, and many members have provided support. This year's APEC meeting will develop a more open and inclusive platform for those ideas.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently promised that "we will endeavor to host a productive, harmonious and successful APEC meeting in Beijing so that it will leave an indelible imprint in the course of regional cooperation and global economic development." Enditem
