Guangzhou city. [Photo/IC]

China will host the first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Senior Officials' Meeting and related events from Feb 1 to 10, marking the first official event of the APEC "China Year" as the country prepares to hold the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said that more than 50 events will be held during the meeting in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

About 1,000 representatives from APEC member economies, the APEC Secretariat and the APEC Business Advisory Council are expected to participate, Guo said, adding that preparations are progressing smoothly.

The spokesman noted that APEC senior officials' meetings, which are held four to five times a year, serve as the main channel for preparing outcomes for the leaders' meeting, which will be held in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

As agreed by all APEC members, the theme for APEC in 2026 is "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together". To advance this vision, the APEC "China Year" has identified openness, innovation and cooperation as the three priorities for APEC this year.

Guo said that the upcoming meeting will focus on the theme and the three priorities, fully launch cooperation across all fields and mechanisms, conduct in-depth discussions on specific cooperation initiatives, and accumulate outcomes for the economic leaders' meeting.

Window to opening-up

He added that the host city of Guangzhou has a time-honored history and serves as an important window to learn about China's opening-up and a core city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"We welcome friends from the media to follow and actively report on the first senior officials' meeting and related meetings to share the stories of the APEC 'China Year' with the world," Guo said.

Since joining APEC in 1991, China has been a consistent advocate and active contributor to regional cooperation.

This will be China's third time hosting the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, following the meetings in Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.

Those gatherings were instrumental in shaping regional economic integration, yielding the Shanghai Accord and the Beijing Roadmap for APEC's future development.

From Shanghai to Beijing and to Shenzhen, China's role and contribution on the APEC stage has continued to strengthen, which shows China's efforts in spearheading Asia-Pacific cooperation, commitment to multilateralism and support for regional economic integration.