Ambassador Chen Xu, 
Senior Officials,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

I am delighted to join you,friends both old and new,in Shenzhen. On behalf of Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,I would like to warmly welcome you to the 2026 APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting(ISOM).

At the handover ceremony in Gyeongju about a month ago,President Xi Jinping announced that China will host the 33rd APEC Economic  Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen in November next year. He stated that China is ready to, as the host for 2026,work with all parties to build an Asia Pacific community,advance the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific, and expand practical cooperation on connectivity,digital economy,Al, etc.,to provide more momentum and driving force for the development in the region and greater benefits for our peoples. President Xi’s important remarks have set out the direction and provided the guidance for us in hosting the events as well as for APEC cooperation in 2026.

APEC is the most influential economic cooperation mechanism of the highest-level and the broadest-scope in the Asia Pacific. Over the past 30-plus years since its establishment,thanks to the joint efforts of all member economies,APEC has worked to pool synergy for development of the region,promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and advance regional economic integration. It has steered the Asia Pacific toward a forerunner of open development in the world,and helped make the region the primary growth engine of the world economy.

The Asia Pacific region,with close to 40 percent of the global population, nearly 50 percent of global trade, and over 60 percent of the world economy,enjoys vast growth potential and bright prospects for development. Meanwhile, as the world goes through transformation not seen in a century, the Asia Pacific is seeing complicated and profound changes in its development environment. The international situation is fluid and turbulent.Globalization faces backlash. Protectionism continues to spread. Global growth remains anemic. And there are growing uncertainties and unpredictabilities. All this is seriously impacting the prospect of economic growth and people’s well-being in the region. How to continue the Asia Pacific economic miracle through strengthened cooperation is a pressing subject for all APEC economies.

As President Xi underscored,the rougher the seas,the more we must pull together. For the Asia Pacific to address challenges and achieve greater success,the key is to uphold the spirit of the Asia Pacific family and work together to build an Asia Pacific community.

To this end,China has proposed “Building an Asia Pacific Community to Prosper Together” as the theme of the APEC “China year”. Building an Asia Pacific community has been a shared goal of APEC since its very inception. Five years ago,APEC leaders issued the Putrajaya Vision 2040, reaffirming their commitment to an open,dynamic,resilient and peaceful Asia Pacific community. Now,facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges,we should renew our commitment to the vision of an Asia Pacific community,explore new paths toward development and prosperity,and jointly open up a new era for the development of the Asia Pacific.

An Asia Pacific community is not only a goal but lies in real actions. By identifying openness,innovation and cooperation as the three priorities of the APEC “China year”,we aim to integrate the building of an Asia Pacific community into concrete cooperation. 

Openness is the lifeline of Asia Pacific prosperity. The Asia Pacific should be a region of openness.Thanks to efforts of all economies,the Asia Pacific is becoming increasingly open,with the average tariff level falling from 17 percent to 5 percent. In 2006, APEC leaders adopted the vision to build a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement of the Asia Pacific has entered a stage of high-quality implementation and already yielded significant dividends of open development. Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the FTAAP vision put forward by APEC leaders. Together,we should uphold the multilateral trading system,foster an open regional economic environment,promote stable and unimpeded industrial and supply chains,bring connectivity to a higher level,and take concrete steps to promote further advancement and new outcomes of building an FTAAP.

Innovation is the driver of Asia Pacific prosperity.As the new round of technological revolution evolves at a faster pace,innovation in science and technology,especially Al,now plays a bigger role in driving growth. Long being committed to cooperation on innovation-driven growth, APEC has contributed to formulating important instruments of multilateral cooperation such as the Information Technology Agreement and adopted the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap, providing sound support for innovation cooperation between economies in the region and beyond.Building on existing cooperation,APEC should seize the opportunities of innovation-driven development,build greater consensus in Al and digital economy,promote the formulation of technical standards and the application of innovation outcomes,and further leverage the empowering role of new technologies,so as to close the digital and intelligence gap in the region.China has gained extensive experience in the technological innovation and scenario-based application of Al,and Shenzhen is known in the world as China’s Silicon Valley. We are ready to work with all parties to share our experience,build greater synergy,and fully leverage the strength of the Asia Pacific as a global pacesetter for innovation,to boost innovation-driven growth of the world economy.

Cooperation is the underpinning of Asia Pacific prosperity. The Asia Pacific has the greatest complementarity in resource endowment and development stage. As the premier platform for regional economic cooperation, APEC has a variety of well-established, multi-tiered mechanisms for practical cooperation. This is a unique strength of APEC. We should make full use of these mechanisms,turn the complementarity between member economies into opportunities to expand collaboration, carry out more policy communication and experience sharing,and strengthen technological cooperation and capacity building. To meet the development needs of different economies,we should further deepen practical cooperation in such areas as the fiscal and financial sector,food security,energy,SMEs,transportation,tourism,human resources and health,deliver more outcomes,and enhance the capacity of developing economies to pursue sustainable development,so that no one,and no economy,is left behind.

Dear Colleagues,

With this ISOM,the APEC “China year” officially unfolds. As a key mechanism coordinating the outcomes of the leaders’ meeting,Senior Officials’ Meeting is tasked to facilitate communication and coordination among economies,and promote APEC cooperation on the whole. It is our hope that with APEC’s original aspiration in mind,you,as senior officials,will carry forward the spirit of cooperation and jointly make greater contributions to achieving productive outcomes in the “China year”.

To conclude,I wish today’s ISOM a full success.

Thank you.