PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
UNITED STATES MEMBER COMMITTEE | EVENTS | U.S. EVENTS | APEC PREVIEW LUNCHEON | AMBASSADOR YANG

APEC Preview Luncheon Outlook for APEC in Shanghai Speech by Ambassador Yang Jiechi at the "APEC Preview Luncheon," sponsored by the Pacific Basin Economic Council, on September 27, 2001. Thank you for your warm introduction. Honorable Mr. Allan, Director General of Pacific Basin Economic Council, Honorable Mr. Fred Bergsten, Director of the Institute for International Economics, Ladies and Gentlemen: First of all, I would like to reiterate our condolences to the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Our hearts go out to the victimized families, the American people and other people in combating terrorism. I am very glad to be with you at this annual gathering sponsored by Pacific Basin Economic Council US Member Committee, and to share with you our thinking on the role of APEC and possible outcomes of the APEC Shanghai Meetings. As the Pacific Rim's oldest and largest regional business organization, PBEC has contributed significantly to the improvement of the business environment in the region through its firm support for trade and investment liberalization and open markets, by helping to develop a common vision for prosperity among Pacific Basin economies, and by providing a valuable channel through which business executives in this region have created and developed business relationships. By maintaining close cooperative relationship with APEC, PBEC has also contributed to the growth of economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region. Let me congratulate you on your continued success. Today, APEC's 21member economies have a combined Gross Domestic Product of over US$ 18 trillion, or 45% of global GDP, and together, they conduct about 44% of global trade. Starting out as an informal dialogue group, APEC has now become the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and economic cooperation. Since its inception, APEC has made steady progress towards the goal of "reducing economic disparities among members and achieving common prosperity." Thanks to the joint efforts of its members, APEC has made positive contribution to peace, stability and economic prosperity and development in the region. China has close economic and trade relations with the other APEC economies. Nine out of China's ten largest trading partners are APEC economies. Since joining APEC in 1991, China has actively taken part in all kinds of activities of the organization and made contributions to its development. As the host of APEC 2001, the Chinese Government has attached great importance to the Shanghai meeting. We hope APEC 2001 will play a key role in advancing the APEC process and strengthening member economies' capacity to meet the challenges of globalization and the New Economy in the new century. I think, the slowdown of world economy and the terrorist attacks on September 11 make this meeting even more important. The theme of APEC Shanghai 2001 is "Meeting New Challenges in the New Century: Achieving Common Prosperity through Participation and Cooperation". Based on this theme, we have identified the following three sub-themes: First, to promote trade and investment and facilitate the establishment of a more reasonable multilateral trading system. Second, to strengthen capacity building and open up new opportunities for future development so that all members will benefit from globalization and the New Economy. Third, to create a favorable macro environment for the sustainable economic development of the Asia-Pacific region. So far, China has already hosted a series of related meetings and functions of APEC, such as High Level Meeting on Human Capacity Building, Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade. SMEs Ministers' Meeting and Finance Ministers' Meeting as well. And the ninth informal APEC Leadership Meeting will be hosted next month. We are glad to see that the above proposals are unanimously endorsed by the member economies. The implementation of the relevant work is underway and has yielded initial progress. Ladies and gentlemen, Trade and investment liberalization and facilitation is important in the APEC process. There are other important components: capacity building and eco-tech; dialogue and cooperation in macroeconomic policies; cooperation in strengthening financial monitoring and supervision?networking activities among business executives; initiatives to address the opportunities and challenges of globalization and the new economy; developing a strong community, etc. The activities and achievements of APEC in these areas are also important and deserve our better efforts. The third Senior officials meeting (SOM) held in Dalian in late August was the last SOM for this year. As SOM is the main coordinating body of APEC, we can assume that the working level discussions for October's APEC Shanghai Meetings have been completed. Consensus reached to date on various subjects will be the basis for the possible outcomes of the APEC Shanghai Meetings. Among other issues, senior officials also discussed the initiatives aiming to broaden the vision of APEC towards the Bogor Goals, including the proposed "Shanghai Accord". In this connection, senior officials called for the injection of dynamism into APEC process as it enters the second decade of development by expanding and updating the APEC vision and roadmap to achieve the Bogor Goals, while preserving the integrity of APEC principles of voluntarism, consensus building and flexibility. China has expressed positive attitude toward the Shanghai Accord initiative. We believe that as long as consensus is reached after full consultation among APEC members, the proposed Shanghai Accord will help to revitalize the APEC trade and investment liberalization process. On the new round of WTO, Ministers Responsible for Trade last June expressed their determination to ensure the successful launch of such a round at Qatar. Senior officials agreed that the Ministerial Meeting and Leaders' Meeting in October could provide another opportunity for APEC to make further contribution to achieving that goal by adopting a forward-looking approach. The E-APEC Strategy, aiming at building a digital society in responding to the call of the fast pace of the new economy development, will be finalized in September and delivered to the Leaders for endorsement. Ladies and gentlemen, at a time when the world economy is slowing down with some economies likely sliding into recession, it is all the more important to build, restore and maintain confidence in the world economy. APEC provides an important and unique venue in this regard. The APEC Shanghai Meetings will contribute to restoring confidence in the world economy by reaffirming its continued commitment to the Bogor Goals, by renewing its support for the launch of a new WTO round, and by increasing its responsiveness to the changes in the world economy and embracing the opportunities and challenges of globalization and the new economy. I wish to thank the US side, including Pacific Basin Economic Council US member committee and the Institute for International Economics for your contribution, cooperation and support for a successful Shanghai APEC Meeting. Let us all work together, and even harder, for this worthy goal. Thank you very much.