Remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu on the Opening Session of the Second APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting_Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Individuals’s Republic of China

Shanghai, May 18, 2026

Senior Officials,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon!

It is a good pleasure to see you once more. I want to start with a heat welcome to you all to the Second Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) of APEC 2026.

Last November, China took over because the APEC host, and APEC cooperation has since entered “China Time.” With the joint efforts of all member economies, APEC cooperation has achieved new progress.

At the Informal SOM in Shenzhen, we reaffirmed APEC’s founding mission, set the theme for 2026 as “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together,” and recognized the three priorities of openness, innovation and cooperation, formally kicking off the APEC “China Year.”

At the First SOM in Guangzhou, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in addressing the opening session, referred to as on all events to work collectively to organize a substantive listing of outcomes for the Leaders’ Meeting. In a spirit of cooperation, APEC members had in-depth discussions on matters equivalent to commerce and funding, connectivity, digital financial system, and innovation-driven progress, and got here up with a collection of end result concepts and work plans.

Today, the baton of the APEC “China Year” reaches Shanghai. This SOM is for each reviewing earlier work and getting ready for the following step. We could have a mid-year stocktaking, refine the outcomes, and put collectively “early harvests” to organize the bottom for the Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen.

We dwell in a world fraught with change and turbulence. Rising unilateralism and protectionism, spillovers of geopolitical conflicts, and worsening vitality and meals crises have solid a shadow on world financial prospects. Defying exterior dangers and challenges, the Asia-Pacific has maintained the momentum of quick growth, and its standing as the expansion engine of the world is much more distinguished.

At final 12 months’s APEC conferences in Gyeongju, President Xi Jinping said that China will comply with the development of the occasions, hearken to the decision of APEC members, and work collectively to construct an Asia-Pacific neighborhood, in order to additional increase peace and growth within the Asia-Pacific and the broader world. This assertion has identified the route of cooperation in the course of the APEC “China Year.” Focusing on this 12 months’s theme and priorities, the Chinese aspect is making lively preparations for the outcomes of the Leader’s Meeting. By envisioning a highway map towards an Asia-Pacific neighborhood within the APEC Shenzhen Leaders’ Declaration, we intention to ship concrete outcomes in commerce, connectivity, innovation and growth, and set up a cooperation framework for collective actions amongst APEC members.

First, actively exploring the pathway towards the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). FTAAP is a shared APEC imaginative and prescient for regional financial integration, and likewise an essential dedication reaffirmed in a collection of end result paperwork. We ought to guarantee FTAAP serves as the principle channel and, by coordinating completely different free commerce pathways, pursue versatile and pragmatic cooperation and improve the events’ capability of becoming a member of high-standard regional financial and commerce preparations. At the identical time, we must always proceed to assist the rules-based multilateral buying and selling system, and foster an open, predictable regional and multilateral financial order. China will work towards a doc on FTAAP. We look ahead to discussions on the upcoming Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Suzhou to construct higher consensus. China may even promote concrete and sensible outcomes in such areas as commerce digitization, cooperation within the service sector, and the listing of environmental items, with a view to advancing commerce and funding liberalization and facilitation.

Second, elevating the extent of connectivity in APEC. Connectivity is a vital basis of regional financial integration and can present favorable circumstances for interconnected growth amongst economies. On the idea of the ultimate overview of the APEC Connectivity Blueprint (2015-2025), we must always try to formulate an upgraded blueprint. China has circulated an idea be aware, and appears ahead to an early settlement. China may even push for various initiatives and outcomes in such areas as sensible customs, sensible transportation, tourism facilitation and the APEC Business Travel Card, to advance bodily, institutional, and people-to-people connectivity in coordination with different events.

Third, fostering new drivers of digital and clever progress. With the in depth utility of AI and different rising applied sciences, innovation is now enjoying an ever extra distinguished position in driving financial growth. We ought to construct on current cooperation and develop a highway map for innovation-driven progress by way of AI and digital financial system. China will host APEC Digital Weeks actions in Chengdu in July and a digital financial system and AI coverage dialogue later, and is contemplating sensible initiatives or platforms in data-driven progress, digital expertise empowerment, open innovation ecosystem, and different areas. We look ahead to the lively participation and expertise sharing of all events to advertise the alignment of technical requirements and commercialization of innovation outcomes, and allow digital and clever applied sciences to empower all sectors of the financial system.

Fourth, enhancing folks’s well-being by way of cooperation. We ought to uphold the positioning of APEC as a platform for regional financial cooperation, prioritize financial growth and higher lives for the folks, enhance the sense of acquire of various teams and odd folks, and garner extra public assist for an Asia-Pacific neighborhood. A number of days in the past, the APEC Women and the Economy Forum was held, with a lot consensus reached on empowering girls’s growth. Next, ministerial conferences in numerous areas may even be held. China has been getting ready for various deliverables in areas together with vitality safety and accessibility, meals resilience, SMEs, human assets, anti-corruption cooperation, youth exchanges, and well being and inhabitants getting old. We look ahead to the lively assist and participation of all events and joint efforts to make sure the success of the next ministerial conferences.

Trade, connectivity, innovation, and growth are extremely appropriate with the three priorities of the APEC “China Year” in addition to Putrajaya Vision 2040. They are mutually reinforcing; collectively, they underpin the Asia-Pacific neighborhood. China will put together the result paperwork for the Leaders’ Meeting primarily based on these 4 pillars, and we look ahead to your constructive dialogue and insights.

Colleagues,

We are virtually midway by way of the APEC “China Year.” China will work with all members to behave with a robust sense of mission and a way of urgency, construct consensus, and transfer in the identical route, in order to make good preparations for a profitable APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen, and contribute to the constructing of an Asia-Pacific neighborhood.

I want this SOM a full success.

Thank you.