Chinese Foreign Minister outlines key tasks for APEC China 2026

APEC members should work toward a clear, substantive outcome document at this year's Leaders' Meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the opening session of the first Senior Officials' Meeting of APEC China 2026 in Guangzhou on Tuesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China has chosen the theme "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together" for this year and will focus on the priorities of openness, innovation and cooperation to advance the whole year's agenda.

The APEC members should explore ways to broaden the path toward the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, and should promote the formulation of a blueprint for upgrading connectivity, Wang said.

Wang noted that APEC members should accelerate digital, smart and green transformations driven by innovation, and foster new growth drivers for APEC economies.

APEC members should bear in mind the diversity among APEC members, and deepen practical cooperation across wide-ranging areas of governance that are integral to development, Wang added.

This is the third time that China plays host to APEC – and the first after twelve years. Chinese President Xi Jinping has pointed the way forward: stay true to APEC's founding mission of promoting economic growth and improving people's lives, champion open development where everyone shares opportunities and emerges a winner, promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and build an Asia-Pacific community, Wang said.

He called on APEC members to build a prosperous and stable Asia-Pacific, an open and interconnected Asia-Pacific, a universally beneficial and inclusive Asia-Pacific and a united and mutually supportive Asia-Pacific.

The APEC "China Year" coincides with the opening year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period. China will deliver new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific and the wider world with the new achievements of Chinese modernization, Wang said.

The first Senior Officials' Meeting of APEC China 2026 is designed to accumulate outcomes for the Leaders' Meeting in November.