From May 11 to 19, Shanghai is hosting a series of APEC meetings on topics including women's economic empowerment, food safety, and digital innovation.

As a key mechanism within APEC, the Second APEC Senior Officials' Meeting aims to help turn leaders' consensus into concrete policy actions. The focus is on priorities such as regional economic integration, digital innovation, and the green and low-carbon transition, laying the groundwork for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later this year.

Shanghai is also hosting this year's first ministerial-level APEC gathering — the Women and the Economy Forum. It's being held under the theme of "Empowering Women for Shared Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific." Senior officials, experts, scholars and business representatives from APEC's 21 economies are discussing women's participation in digital transformation, entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as ways to better balance career development and family responsibilities.

The forum is expected to release the APEC Shanghai Initiative on Women's Economic Empowerment, offering new ideas and practical proposals for advancing women's development across the region.

The 2026 APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum also opened in Shanghai on May 12, bringing together more than 80 representatives from APEC economies, the APEC Secretariat, relevant committees, and international organizations.

Established in 2007, the Forum aims to improve information sharing, capacity building and standards coordination among APEC economies, while facilitating food trade, reducing trade barriers, and protecting consumers.

Delegates in Shanghai are discussing topics including maximum residue limits for pesticides, as well as the use of artificial intelligence, big data, smart regulatory platforms and intelligent equipment in food safety supervision.

Shanghai has a special connection with APEC. In 2001, the city hosted the 9th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, marking the first time China served as the host of APEC. Twenty-five years later, APEC has returned to Shanghai — and the city's transformation tells a broader story of China's development and its growing role in regional and global governance.

Against the backdrop of an uneven global recovery, rising protectionism, and shifting supply chains, APEC's role as a platform for dialogue and practical cooperation is becoming even more important, and Shanghai is once again providing a supportive stage for building consensus.