Open, innovative China to bolster APEC at global economic forefront

BEIJING - China's push for greater openness and global collaboration was prominently showcased at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in the Republic of Korea.

With its steadfast commitment to high-level opening up and strong innovative capabilities, the world's second-largest economy is well-positioned to drive a prosperous future for the Asia-Pacific region and sustain its role as a hub of global economic growth.

OPENING UP WIDER

Dubbed the "Asia-Pacific Miracle," the region has emerged as a hub of global economic growth, a pillar of development stability, and a highland of international cooperation.

China has long understood that its economic success is closely linked to the broader stability and growth of the region. Accordingly, it has consistently pursued an opening-up strategy and driven innovation in order to strengthen its own economy while providing a substantial boost to other regional economies.

"We must continue to expand opening up at the institutional level, safeguard the multilateral trading system, and promote broader international economic flows. We should draw momentum from opening up to propel reform and development, and share opportunities with the rest of the world and promote common development," according to the Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan recently adopted at the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Over the past five years, China has ranked as the world's largest trader in goods and the second-largest in services. It has attracted more than $700 billion in foreign investment, while its outbound investment has grown at an average annual rate of over 5 percent. The country has also been shortening the negative list for foreign investment and extending its unilateral visa-free policy to more countries.

In the first three quarters of this year, China's imports and exports with other APEC economies increased by 2 percent year-on-year, reaching 19.41 trillion yuan ($2.74 trillion), accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total import and export value, according to official statistics.

Today, China's economic policies, particularly its strategy of high-level opening up, play a crucial role in driving regional growth and prosperity. Efforts such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have strengthened connectivity between China and other economies through trade, logistics and digital infrastructure.

Thanks to cooperation mechanisms such as the BRI, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, trade barriers within the region will be further reduced, and cooperation will also expand to emerging green, digital and artificial intelligence (AI) industries, said Liu Jing, chief economist for Greater China at HSBC.

China's rise to a global economic powerhouse has been remarkable, and its door to the world will continue to open ever wider.

INNOVATION FOR ALL

China has been putting great emphasis on innovation in growing its economy, and its prowess in high-tech industries such as AI, robotics and renewable energy has propelled it to the forefront of global technological advancements.

But China is not just boosting its own economy; it is also helping accelerate growth across the Asia-Pacific region. As highlighted at the APEC meeting, the country aims to "eliminate poverty together, and promote shared prosperity for all the people in the Asia-Pacific" and to "deepen cooperation on open source technologies while building an open and competitive ecosystem for innovation."

Liu noted that an increasing number of foreign-funded enterprises are establishing research and development centers in China, choosing the country as a hub for manufacturing and innovation. At the same time, more Chinese companies are expanding globally, setting up factories in regions close to end consumers, including many economies across the Asia-Pacific region.

HSBC predicted that China's development in the fields of AI and robotics will generate spillover effects through its trade and investment network. China's technological progress and market advantages will continuously provide new growth drivers and stability for regional cooperation; the APEC members will accelerate their own green transformation and digital upgrade through collaborations in the industrial chain, capital and innovation, thereby promoting the progress of the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Mutual learning and collaboration have helped the Asia-Pacific region maintain its status as a global center for scientific and technological innovation, home to the world's busiest networks of people, finance, logistics and information, as well as some of the most important industrial chains, said Dai Erbiao, director of the Asian Growth Research Institute.

Dai believes that as the host of the next APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, China will advance regional cooperation by fostering new industries in environmental protection as growth drivers, promoting technological progress in life sciences and healthcare, supporting the healthy development of high-tech sectors such as AI, and enhancing mutual understanding among APEC members.