Asia-Pacific should join hands to promote peaceful, sustainable and inclusive growth

This is an editorial from China Daily.

The attendance of President Xi Jinping at the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting that is being held in San Francisco on Thursday and Friday demonstrates the great importance China attaches to Asia-Pacific economic cooperation.

The Asia-Pacific is the most dynamic regional economy. Home to one-third of the world's population, it accounts for over 60 percent of the global economy and nearly half of international trade.

As an important platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC has made continuous progress in promoting regional trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and played a positive role in promoting global and regional economic growth.

At present, the situation in the Asia-Pacific region is generally stable, regional cooperation has made continuous progress, and peaceful development and win-win cooperation are still the mainstream trend. But the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, and geopolitical tensions are overlapping with the evolving economic landscape. The development environment and cooperation architecture of the Asia-Pacific region have not been immune to the impacts.

In the speech he will deliver at the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, China's top leader will comprehensively expound on China's proposals for deepening Asia-Pacific cooperation and promoting regional economic growth. He will call on all parties to join hands with China to promote prosperity and development in the Asia-Pacific.

China is one of the most important economies in the Asia-Pacific region, and it has made important contributions to regional economic growth. According to the Asian Economic Integration Report 2023 released by the Asian Development Bank, China contributed 64.2 percent of the economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, and 37.6 percent of the growth of trade in goods and 44.6 percent of the growth of trade in services.

Greater trust, inclusiveness, cooperation and mutual benefit will deepen the Asia-Pacific partnership. That in turn will produce new opportunities and impetus for the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. China on its part is committed to building an Asia-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, clean, beautiful and mutually supportive.

China's development has benefited from that of the Asia-Pacific, and the world's second-largest economy has also contributed to and benefited the Asia-Pacific with its own development. It will continue to share its development opportunities with the region as it opens up on a wider scale at a higher level and with higher standards.

Peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific belong to all the people in the region, and the future of the Asia-Pacific depends on people in the region working together to build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

It should be recognized that a prosperous and strong China not only serves the fundamental interests of the Chinese people, but also benefits the people of the Asia-Pacific and the world at large.