Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 23rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, Nov. 19, 2015. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on Asia-Pacific economies to boost win-win cooperation in pursuit of common prosperity.[Special coverage]
Xi made the remarks here at the 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which was themed "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World."
Although its economy is faced with various challenges, "the Asia-Pacific region is still the locomotive driving the world economy," Xi said, urging all APEC members to make use of the regional platform and step up win-win cooperation so as to continue leading global growth.
During last year's APEC summit in Beijing, the 21 members inked a blueprint on enhancing physical, institutional and people-to-people connections by 2025, and also officially launched the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) process.
"As we gather again one year after that, our goal is still to deepen Asia-Pacific cooperation and promote common development of the region," Xi said.
Stressing that Asia-Pacific economies should look ahead into the future and improve the framework for regional medium- and long-term cooperation, Xi pointed out that reform and innovation are needed to find new growth impetus.
He called for joint efforts to push forward transition of growth model and economic restructuring and deepen cooperation in areas that have great potential, such as urbanization, Internet economy and blue economy.
Meanwhile, "we need to advance regional integration and build an open Asia-Pacific economy," said Xi, urging APEC members to complete the construction of the FTAAP at an early date.
Wang Yiwei, an expert on international relations with Renmin University of China, praised the FTAAP as "the most inclusive initiative in the Asia-Pacific region."
It reflects the common aspiration of the APEC community, he said. "Facts prove that China is an important cohesive force for the Asia-Pacific cooperation."
In the process of formulating regional free trade agreements, Xi suggested, all related members should stay open and inclusive, seek cooperation of mutual benefit and safeguard the multilateral trade regime.
As to regional connectivity, the Chinese president called on Asia-Pacific economies to continue to earnestly carry out the connectivity blueprint forged in Beijing so as to break the bottleneck in regional development.
