Harnessing Opportunities of Our Times To Jointly Pursue Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific
Harnessing Opportunities of
Our Times
To Jointly Pursue Prosperity
in the Asia-Pacific
Remarks by
H.E. Xi Jinping
President
of the People’s Republic of China
At the
26th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting
Port
Moresby, 18 November 2018
Honorable Prime Minister
Peter O’Neill,
Dear Colleagues,
It gives
me great pleasure to join you in the beautiful city of Port Moresby. This is
the first time for us APEC economic leaders to meet in the Pacific Islands
region. We gather under the theme “Harnessing Inclusive Opportunities,
Embracing the Digital Future” to review what we have achieved in our cooperation
and chart the course for the future of the Asia-Pacific. I wish to thank the
Papua New Guinean government and Prime Minister O’Neill in particular for the
commendable efforts you have put in to host this meeting.
Our
world is undergoing rapid development and changes. A new round of technological
and industrial revolution is unfolding. The system of global governance is
being profoundly reshaped; and the evolution of the international architecture is
accelerating. On the other hand, global development faces acute deep-seated
problems. Protectionism and unilateralism are resurfacing. The multilateral trading
system is under assault. The global economic environment is fraught with risks
and uncertainties.
As a
line in the Chinese classics reads, “A man of vision sees the trend of the
times and follows it.” We have reached a crossroads of history, when we must
have a keen appreciation of the trend of our world and take the pulse of the
world economy. That is how we will be able to respond to the call of our time
and chart our future course accordingly.
First, we need to advance economic integration
in our region so as to build an open economy in the Asia-Pacific. We should continue to
promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. The road toward a
Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) will not be smooth. Yet, we need to
remain committed to this goal and move toward it. We need
to adopt an open, inclusive and transparent approach to the various kinds of
free trade arrangements to ensure coordinated and positive interactions among
them. We need
to firmly uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system and say no to protectionism.
The World Trade Organization is exploring a new round of reform. Such reform should
be designed to enable the WTO to better play its role and uphold the core
values and underlying principles of the multilateral trading system instead of
having the Organization overhauled. What we need is to make economic
globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.
This
year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up initiative.
China will pursue with resolve continued reform across the board. We will speed
up efforts to improve our socialist market economy and put in place a modern economic
system. China will continue to pursue its fundamental policy of opening-up by significantly
expanding market access, better protecting intellectual property rights, and
making our investment and business environment more attractive. The first China
International Import Expo, which was successfully concluded in Shanghai just a
week ago, was attended by 172 countries, regions and international
organizations, and 3,600-plus companies and over 400,000 Chinese and foreign buyers
who sealed US$57.8 billion worth of deals. The Hongqiao
International Economic and Trade Forum held alongside the Expo was
attended by over 4,500 leading personages from various sectors. This sent one more message about
China’s strong commitment to support free and open trade and to voluntarily
open its market to the world.
Second,
we need to pursue innovation-driven growth and foster new growth drivers. Digital economy represents
the development of the future for both the Asia-Pacific and the world at large.
We need to recognize and follow the trend of innovation-driven development as a
trend of the times, and fully implement the Internet and Digital Economy
Roadmap in a balanced way, so as to unleash the growth potential of digital
economy. We need to promote the building of digital infrastructure and
capacity, make digital economy more accessible and bridge the digital divide.
Our goal should be for the benefits of digital economy to reach all member
economies at different stages of development and for the people of the
Asia-Pacific to get aboard the fast train of a growing digital economy.
China is
endeavoring to build a “Digital China”. Many innovations have been made in
areas such as Internet Plus and artificial intelligence. New technologies and
new forms and models of business like sharing economy, online retail, and
mobile payment continue to emerge in China, bringing profound changes to the lives
of the Chinese people. China seeks deeper cooperation on digital economy with
other members of the Asia-Pacific so as to expand convergence of interests and
create more growth areas, thus adding strong and fresh impetus to the
Asia-Pacific economy.
Third,
we need to improve the connectivity network to promote inclusive and
interconnected development. Connectivity is the foundation of inclusive and interconnected
development. Efforts are required to turn our connectivity blueprint into
reality and extend our connectivity network to every corner along the Pacific
shores. We need to take the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a guide
and adopt more concrete steps to make development more balanced, growth more
sustainable, opportunities more equal and societies more inclusive.
China takes it a high priority to strengthen
connectivity. Thanks to five years of joint efforts, cooperation under the Belt
and Road Initiative has entered a new phase of full implementation. China will
host the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April next
year. China will work with all countries involved under the principle of
consultation and collaboration for shared benefits to pursue the Belt and Road
Initiative against high standards so that it will deliver quality outcomes and
create even greater development opportunities for the people in the
Asia-Pacific and beyond.
Fourth,
we need to forge a closer partnership and jointly meet common challenges. APEC has traversed a journey
of cooperation for close to 30 years; and it has fostered a partnership
featuring mutual trust, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, something we all
hold dear. As we Asia-Pacific countries vary in national conditions,
differences among us are normal. What is important is for us to stay committed
to the shared goal of common development, address differences through
consultation and explore solutions to common challenges in the spirit of
partnership. We need to respect diversity and each other’s choices of
development path, promote integration and mutual learning on the basis of
openness and inclusiveness, and engage in both healthy competition and mutually
beneficial cooperation. With these efforts, we can jointly build a community
with a shared future in the Asia-Pacific.
China
follows a people-centered development philosophy and a new development vision that
features innovative, coordinated, green and open development for the benefit of
all. In the past few decades, China has lifted more than 700 million people out
of poverty and will completely eliminate poverty by 2020. The Chinese economy
has been contributing over 30 percent of the global growth for many years. Its
shift from high-speed to high-quality growth is gathering pace. For one thing,
consumption accounts for 78% of China’s growth this year. The overall momentum
of sustained and sound growth will continue.
Dear
Colleagues,
As
leaders of the Asia-Pacific, we share a common responsibility to chart the
long-term development course for APEC and draw up a post-2020 vision. We should
follow the underlying trend of economic globalization and prevail over
difficulties as they arise. We should remain committed to our goal of economic
integration in the region and work toward the direction of an open global economy.
We should keep the momentum of Asia-Pacific cooperation and steadily bring it
to a higher level.
China is
a champion of Asia-Pacific cooperation and has taken concrete steps to promote
cooperation on the ground. Close cooperation with other members of the
Asia-Pacific is indispensable for China’s development. China’s development, on
its part, offers broad opportunities of development for the Asia-Pacific. China
will stay deeply engaged in the Asia-Pacific cooperation process, increase its
input, deepen practical cooperation with other parties involved, and make new
contribution to the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.
Thank
you!
Harnessing Opportunities of Our Times To Jointly Pursue Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific
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