Experts: APEC plays an important role in globalization

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China's global influence has expanded significantly. For its part, the East Asian giant maintains it's not a threat to any country, as Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged peaceful development on the international stage.

After Xi outlining China's stance on the regional and global political economies at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, experts said APEC would play an important role in protecting the globalization and providing leadership that the global trading really needs.

Xi said that the global economy has been improving, and that restores confidence and secures a profound change in globalization.

There is a powerful protectionism crisis in the world right now, threatening the global trades and investments. APEC really plays the first role to protect the global trading, according to Tiff Macklem, Dean of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

“And the second of all, [APEC] is to enhance and deepen [the globalization],” Macklem added. “The reality is the globalization has been the huge source of prosperity for the world. We don’t want to take a step back.”

Xi’s speech came right on the heels of an address from US President Donald Trump, who similarly called for economic openness, but struck a harsh tone against countries he deemed guilty of "chronic trade abuses."

US President Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, Da Nang, Vietnam, on November 10, 2017. /VCG Photo

“Trump always has this attitude that trade relations with the US have to be negotiated on a bilateral basis,” commented by John Gong, Professor at the University of International Business and Economics.

That causes a core issue of multilateralism versus bilateralism in Gong’s opinion. And Gong also commented that since countries whose economic sizes are smaller than American don’t have bargaining power when they come to negotiate trade deals with the US, they rather prefer working out these trade issues on a multilateral platform.

Xi also said the multilateral trading system must be improved while emphasizing shared growth through consultation and collaboration. "We should continue to foster an open economy that benefits all. Openness brings progress while self-seclusion leaves one behind," he said.

The economic statuses among APEC members are all different. Therefore, benefiting all and achieving a real fair trade region sounds like a “mission impossible.”

In that case, Macklem elaborated that the goal should start with bilateral trade agreement which is more “diversionary”, then look to “the most comprehensive and the most progressive” multilateral cooperation.

Macklem told CGTN that “the first step would be to deepen and broaden the bilateral relationships. And a better approach would be to move toward more multilateral framework.”

“That’s going to require leadership, and that APEC could play an important role,” Macklem stressed.