BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- "I was looking at the vast ocean when I boarded the ship, and it struck me that we are all indeed fellow passengers in the same boat," said Chinese President Xi Jinping while addressing the 2018 APEC CEO Summit hosted at a distinctive setting -- onboard the giant cruise Pacific Explorer in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
"As we brave the rough waters of the global economy and confront the many risks and challenges, it is all too befitting that we have come together on this ship to chart the course for future development and cooperation," he noted.
APEC has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years, from trade frictions to geopolitical tensions. Against this backdrop, Xi has consistently championed genuine multilateralism and warned against antagonism and confrontation. "The Asia-Pacific is no one's backyard and should not become an arena for big power contest," he emphasized in the 2022 Bangkok meeting.
During the 30th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held in San Francisco last year, Xi posed a critical question: "Where will Asia-Pacific cooperation be headed in the next 30 years?" And he has provided an answer with Chinese insights -- build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.
"Community" has always been the keyword of Xi's foreign policy. At his APEC debut in 2013, Xi urged member economies to strengthen "the sense of community of common destiny." Five years later in Port Moresby, he advocated for jointly building "a community with a shared future in the Asia-Pacific" to address common challenges.
In 2020, as the world grappled with the pandemic and its economic fallout, Xi, while attending the annual APEC gathering via video link, elaborated on his vision to build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future featuring openness and inclusiveness, innovation-driven growth, greater connectivity, and mutually beneficial cooperation.
The 2020 meeting saw APEC members adopt the Putrajaya Vision 2040 as the guiding framework for future work, calling for the creation of an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community.
As Xi prepares to join other Asia-Pacific leaders for discussions under the theme of "Empower. Include. Grow," observers have set their expectations for the upcoming meeting in Lima.
"The role of APEC in facilitating dialogue among political and economic leaders is more crucial than ever at this time of growing protectionism and economic decoupling," said Hans Hendrischke, professor of Chinese business and management at the University of Sydney Business School.
China has always been active in pushing emerging market economies and developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region to realize more efficient development, said Dora Isabel Gonzalez, a researcher at the Faculty of Higher Studies of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Acatlan.
"I believe President Xi's trip to Peru will strongly promote economic, trade and investment cooperation and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region and even globally," said Gonzalez. ■