Xi calls for unity to achieve better Asia-Pacific cooperation

SAN FRANCISCO -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday delivered a written speech titled "Meeting challenges with unity of purpose to write a new chapter for Asia-Pacific" at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.

In the written speech, Xi pointed out that three decades ago, Asia-Pacific leaders followed the trend toward peace and development, and convened the inaugural APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, enabling Asia-Pacific development and economic globalization to embark on a fast track of growth, turning the region into a powerhouse for world economic growth and an anchor of stability for global development.

Over the past three decades, we have stayed committed to open regionalism, opening up and inclusiveness, learned from each other's strengths, exchanged needs, focused on development and jointly developed "the APEC Approach" based on the principles of voluntarism, consensus-building and incremental progress, capitalizing on the spirit of partnership featuring harmony without uniformity, and solidarity and mutual assistance, Xi said, adding that there is so much we can draw from this remarkable journey of Asia-Pacific cooperation.

Noting that the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, Xi stressed that we should stay committed to APEC's founding mission, never forget our mission bestowed by history, and move to relaunch Asia-Pacific cooperation, as we are facing a new question of the times -- where will Asia-Pacific cooperation be headed in the next 30 years.

We should jointly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, maintain Asia-Pacific prosperity and stability through dialogue and partnership rather than confrontation and alliance, Xi said. The region cannot and should not be an arena for geopolitical rivalry, still less should it be plunged into a new Cold War or camp-based confrontation, he said.

Xi underscored that we should remain committed to open regionalism, and steadfastly advance the building of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, make our economies more interconnected, and build an open Asia-Pacific economy featuring win-win cooperation.

The president said that we should move along with the trend to promote transition to digital, smart and green development, jointly boost innovation and market application of scientific and technological advances, and push forward full integration of digital and physical economies.

We should jointly improve global governance of science and technology, so as to build an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for the development of science and technology, he said.