轻松懂APEC | What you should know about APEC
What is APEC
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Origin & mission
Founded: 1989 in Canberra, Australia
Purpose: To promote free and open trade, investment, and economic cooperation across the Asia-Pacific.
APEC serves as a forum for dialogue, bringing together economies to build shared prosperity and sustainable growth through voluntary cooperation.
Membership: 21 economies across the Pacific
APEC includes 21 member economies — not “countries” — representing both advanced and emerging markets.
Members range from China, the United States, and Japan to ASEAN members, Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.
Together, they account for 40% of the world's population, half of global trade and over nearly 50% of global GDP and about half of world trade.
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Core principles
Voluntary cooperation:Members set their own paths toward shared goals.
Consensus-based:Decisions are made through dialogue and mutual agreement, not binding treaties.
Open and inclusive: Every economy has an equal voice, respecting diverse development stages.
A promotional installation for the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on October 28. Photos by Xinhua unless otherwise stated
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Structure
Leaders’ Meeting: The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is a top-level meeting under the APEC institutional framework. Since the first informal leaders' meeting in Seattle, U.S., in 1993, the economic leaders' meeting has been convened on a yearly basis.
Ministerial & senior officials’ meetings:Prepare policies and joint statements.
Working groups:Focus on key areas — Trade & investment, digital economy, sustainable growth & energy transition, women’s empowerment & SMEs, health & food security.
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Rotating host system
The host economy rotates each year, setting the theme, agenda, and visual identity of that year’s APEC.
Recent themes have emphasized innovation, inclusion, resilience, and sustainability.
China and APEC
Fireworks light up the sky over Olympic Park in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2014, in celebration of the APEC summit.
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Joining APEC
China became a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1991, together with Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei, as APEC recognizes the one-China principle and respects differences among sovereign states and regional economies.
APEC has since provided an important platform for China to pursue mutually beneficial cooperation with other member economies and to advance its multilateral diplomacy.
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Driving integration and development
China’s participation in APEC has boosted its own growth and made significant contributions to regional and global economic integration.
Chinese presidents have attended every APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, presenting positive, balanced and constructive proposals that have earned broad recognition among member economies.
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Hosting milestones
Shanghai 2001 — Embracing the new century
China successfully hosted its first APEC summit in Shanghai in 2001 under the theme “Meeting New Challenges in the New Century.”
Key documents adopted — including the APEC Economic Leaders’ Declaration, the Shanghai Accord, and the Action Agenda for the New Economy Challenge: Digital APEC Strategy — strengthened cooperation on trade, innovation and connectivity.
Then-U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin walk side by side wearing traditional Chinese jackets during the 2001 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shanghai. news.ifeng.com
Beijing 2014 — Building connectivity and partnership
At the Beijing APEC summit, leaders adopted two landmark documents:
Beijing Agenda for an Integrated, Innovative and Interconnected Asia-Pacific
Statement on the 25th Anniversary of APEC: Shaping the Future Through Asia-Pacific Partnership
They also endorsed the Connectivity Blueprint 2025 and launched the strategic study on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), marking the official start of the FTAAP process.
A scene from the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, held in Beijing in 2014.
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Trade & investment
China’s economic links with other APEC members continue to deepen.
In 2024, trade between the Chinese mainland and other APEC economies totaled US$ 3.66 trillion, accounting for 59.3% of China’s total foreign trade.
Outbound investment to APEC economies reached US$164 billion ( 85.3% of China’s outward FDI ), while US$93.9 billion flowed from APEC members into China ( 80.6% of inbound FDI ).
These figures underscore the enduring interdependence between China and the wider Asia-Pacific region — a partnership that continues to drive regional growth and economic integration.
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