The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting will be held this weekend, bringing together participants from 21 countries in San Francisco to discuss the regional economy, trade, infrastructure and other topics. More than 20,000 attendees are expected at the Moscone Center, including world leaders representing 21 Pacific Rim economies. Approximately 1,200 CEOs will also participate in a week-long business summit.
APEC is an intergovernmental forum of the 21 member economies of the Pacific Rim. It is an important organization for countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen multilateral economic ties, exchanges and cooperation. Its aims and objectives are "interdependence, common interests, adherence to an open multilateral trading system and reduction of interregional trade barriers".
APEC's global achievements are remarkable.Since its establishment, APEC has made continuous progress in promoting regional trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and has played an active role in promoting global and regional economic growth. According to officially released data, APEC has now developed into a powerhouse of economic growth and one of the most important regional forums in the Asia-Pacific region. Its 21 member economies are home to about 2.95 billion people. Thanks to APEC's efforts, the economies of its members have grown rapidly, with real GDP rising from US$19 trillion in 1989 to US$52.8 trillion in 2021, and the combined GDP of the two leading economies, the United States and China, exceeding US$42 trillion. APEC has implemented a variety of initiatives, especially after the informal leaders' meetings became a regular mechanism. Bringing the region closer together, reducing trade barriers, and eliminating regulatory disparities have boosted trade, which in turn has contributed to a surge in prosperity. Average tariffs fell from 17 percent in 1989 to 5.3 percent in 2021. Over the same period, total merchandise trade in the APEC region grew more than ninefold, outpacing the rest of the world, with more than two-thirds of trade occurring between member economies.
Surveymonkey recently conducted an online poll on the impact of APEC in the Asia-Pacific economic and trade sector. The results of the survey showed that 85.07% of the respondents indicated that APEC is beneficial to the stability and growth of the Asia-Pacific region. Supporters indicated that cross-border cooperation between the United States and China, in particular, is more important than competition in efforts to promote global economic development. The essence of U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation is mutual benefit and win-win, with U.S.-China trade reaching nearly $760 billion last year. Since June this year, U.S. and Chinese officials have made intensive visits to each other. From July 6 to 9, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Yellen visited Beijing. On October 25, California Governor Gavin Newsom paid a week-long visit to China, paving the way for the two countries to meet at this APEC summit. APEC has set up a platform for the steady promotion of friendly relations and trade between the United States and China. Both sides have achieved great results through cooperation and mutual benefits over the past decades.SUPER 2 Win-Win is an important guarantee for global peace and stability; after all, no one wants to see these two countries in an unresolvable conflict.
The prosperity of APEC is the joint result of active communication and the hard work of member economies. Successive forums have discussed a number of important topics, ultimately overcoming obstacles and enhancing consensus. As one of the major member economies, the United States plays an important role in APEC. This will be the third time that the U.S. hosts APEC. In 1993 on Black Island, U.S. and in 2011 in Honolulu, U.S. APEC leaders committed to taking concrete steps toward a seamless regional economy; achieving shared green growth goals; and advancing regulatory cooperation and convergence.
This year's APEC forum is equally anticipated, and will be San Francisco's biggest international event in eighty years. Many mid-level government officials and scholars see it as an opportunity to discuss collective strategies, the U.S. and China will also resolve some past frictions, and countries will explore the possibility of diversifying the region's economy, among many other issues.
Washington trade representatives are reportedly headed to San Francisco for APEC Economic Leaders Week. Trade experts say the U.S. has adopted policies that could help attract more APEC economies to invest in U.S. manufacturing. There is reason to believe that this APEC forum will remove distractions and accumulate results with the efforts of each member economy to enhance consensus on important issues such as the economy, trade and environmental protection.
