Beijing's successful agenda-setting

Albeit the APEC meetings still prioritized regional economic development, they did open windows of opportunity for face-to-face meetings between leaders, which offered new momentum to some otherwise frozen issues. It is a pity that a meeting between US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin did not work out given the serious confrontation that has erupted between Washington and Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis. However, that should not overshadow the other important meetings that did take place.

Short as it was, the 25-minute meeting between Chinese President Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday was the first of its kind since the two leaders took office. It has been hailed by many as a major step toward improvement in relations between China and Japan, as the two countries have agreed to resume political, diplomatic and security dialogues while acknowledging their different positions on the Diaoyu Islands.

In addition, during a brief conversation with the Philippine President Benigno Aquino on the sidelines of the Economic Leaders' Meeting, Aquino gave Xi his word that he would seek to improve the bilateral ties and solve the two countries' sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea. Also, talks between Xi and Obama on Wednesday produced concrete actions to push forward their earlier consensus to build a new type of major-country relationship between China and the US, signaling that both sides will shelve their differences in global governance in a bid to strengthen their bilateral ties.

Moreover, the Connectivity Blueprint for 2015-25 adopted by all the APEC members on Tuesday, once implemented, will substantially strengthen physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity and promote regional bonds in the Asia-Pacific region.

This blueprint, which proposes future initiatives for a more efficient flow of goods, services, capital and people, is expected to bring the APEC community one step closer to inclusive integration via concrete efforts such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone.

The APEC economies, representing two-fifths of the world population, 56 percent of world's economic output, and 48 percent of world trade, will surely be able to boost both the regional and global economy through constructive multilateral coordination.

In particular, Beijing's concrete efforts, such as the $10 million contribution to support the APEC institutional development and capacity building, has further proved its central role in the realization of regional integration and an Asia-Pacific dream of shared prosperity.

The author is executive director of the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies and professor of international relations at Nanjing University.