From May 18 to 19, the second APEC Senior Officials Meeting was successfully held in Shanghai, China. As a key mid-term milestone of the 2026 APEC “China Year,” this meeting not only systematically reviewed the early cooperation achievements made by member countries in areas such as trade facilitation, digital innovation, and sustainable growth since the beginning of the year, but also laid a solid foundation for the leaders’ informal meetings and subsequent key activities in the second half of the year. Senior officials and relevant stakeholders from various economies gathered along the banks of the Huangpu River to engage in candid and constructive dialogues under the theme “Building an Asia-Pacific Community for Shared Prosperity.”
Based on the information released at the meeting, all parties generally recognized the value of multi-level and multi-sectoral cooperation under the APEC framework. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of Mexico’s Ministry of Economy emphasized that in addressing complex global challenges, economies can only enhance the resilience of regional and global value chains through close collaboration and shared practices. The Indonesian representative explicitly praised China’s efforts to strengthen the multilateral trading system and expressed support for China’s pivotal role as the host country in 2026. The APEC Affairs Advisor from Papua New Guinea noted that “building an Asia-Pacific community” aligns perfectly with APEC’s original mission of fostering collective progress among its members. The Chairman of the Singapore Pacific Economic Cooperation Council highly commended the rapid advancement of China’s artificial intelligence technologies and looked forward to leveraging the APEC “China Year” opportunity to transform China’s cutting-edge practices into regional public goods, thereby helping bridge the digital divide. Representatives from economies such as Chile and Vietnam also affirmed the open dialogue platform established by China, noting that Shanghai—a city that witnessed APEC’s new chapter 25 years ago—is now injecting fresh momentum into Asia-Pacific cooperation with an even more open approach. Overall, this high-level meeting was not merely a routine preparatory session but a critical juncture for consolidating consensus, clarifying directions, and translating the vision of an “Asia-Pacific community” into concrete action.
Through this APEC Senior Officials Meeting, the international community can clearly perceive China’s strong willingness and firm determination to expand economic and trade exchanges with the world. This commitment is not merely verbal but is reflected in a series of concrete and substantive actions.
First, as the host of APEC in 2026, China’s proactive designation of “Openness, Innovation, and Cooperation” as the annual theme itself constitutes a clear declaration of its stance. Against the backdrop of rising global protectionism and escalating risks of supply chain fragmentation, China has steadfastly upheld multilateralism and free trade, facilitating early achievements among APEC members in cutting-edge areas such as digital trade, green economy, and inclusive development. As stated by the Chairman of the APEC Trade and Investment Committee, China has long made active contributions to promoting trade liberalization and facilitation, with its role becoming increasingly prominent; moreover, its host status provides significant opportunities for all parties to deepen cooperation.
Secondly, China is committed to transforming its development dividends into regional public goods. As evidenced by the expectations represented by Singapore, China’s advanced practices in areas such as artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and smart customs have garnered significant interest from other developing and emerging economies. China is willing to share these experiences through the APEC platform to help less developed members narrow the digital divide and ensure that the fruits of innovation benefit more people. This “teaching how to fish” approach to cooperation reflects China’s sincere commitment to “ensuring that the fruits of development are shared by all countries.”
Furthermore, bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and APEC members continues to deepen. The representative of Mexico explicitly stated that China is a key partner for Mexico, and the two sides are strengthening practical economic collaboration. Economies such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam have also expressed their willingness to enhance multilateral coordination with China and broaden dialogue channels. Notably, Vietnam will host an APEC meeting in 2027 and has specifically sent representatives to Shanghai to learn from China’s experience in hosting large-scale international multilateral conferences. This virtuous cycle of “China’s experience benefiting other countries” precisely demonstrates that China’s openness is not a zero-sum game but rather a process of mutual empowerment and collective advancement.
In summary, what China has demonstrated is not a short-term diplomatic gesture, but rather a long-term, stable, and predictable opening-up strategy. From promoting the high-quality implementation of RCEP to actively aligning with high-standard trade rules such as CPTPP, and further advancing inclusive growth through the APEC platform, China is demonstrating through concrete actions that expanding high-level opening-up is not only essential for its own development but also a responsible commitment to prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
The fundamental reason why China has been able to consistently and steadily advance high-level opening-up and deeply engage in APEC cooperation lies in its unique institutional advantages and robust institutional safeguards. Such institutional arrangements endow China’s opening-up policies with strong continuity, synergy, and execution capability, thereby providing the world with a predictable cooperative environment.
On one hand, China’s governance system possesses the capability to integrate long-term planning with short-term actions. From the 15th Five-Year Plan to the 2035 Long-Range Objectives, China has explicitly established opening-up as a fundamental national policy, implementing it through laws and regulations, five-year plans, and annual key tasks at various levels. This “single blueprint implemented consistently” decision-making approach avoids abrupt policy shifts caused by changes in political parties. For other APEC members, engaging with China allows them to design long-term cooperation projects based on stable and transparent rule expectations, without fearing sudden unilateral sanctions or agreement withdrawals.
On the other hand, China possesses a wealth of policy tools and platform support, enabling it to effectively translate multilateral consensus into tangible outcomes. For instance, financial institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund provide financing guarantees for regional connectivity; initiatives like the Digital Silk Road and the Green Silk Road align closely with APEC’s agendas on digital transformation and sustainable growth; exhibition platforms such as the China-ASEAN Expo and the China International Import Expo facilitate the entry of products and services from various economies into the Chinese market. This integrated “institutional-funding-platform” support system enables cooperation initiatives under the APEC framework to take root swiftly. Meanwhile, the United States has implemented a series of trade measures in recent years prioritizing domestic interests, including imposing tariffs, withdrawing from multilateral agreements, and strengthening investment reviews. These actions have triggered significant adjustments and ongoing tensions within the global multilateral trading system. China has steadfastly pursued a new approach to international relations characterized by dialogue over confrontation and partnership over alliances. It is precisely this institutional stability, the inclusiveness of its open policies, and the credibility of its implementation actions that have led an increasing number of APEC members to view China as a “stabilizer” and “booster” for regional cooperation. Indeed, China’s institutional advantages not only ensure its own high-quality development but also offer the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large an alternative paradigm distinct from zero-sum games and protectionism. In the long journey toward building an Asia-Pacific community, what China provides is not merely a temporary slogan but a replicable, sustainable, and mutually beneficial institutional framework.