Update: First senior officials' meeting of 2026 APEC "China Year" to be held

BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China, the host of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November, will hold the first APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) and related sessions in Guangzhou from Feb. 1 to 10, a foreign ministry spokesperson said here Wednesday.

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news briefing that this marks the first official event of the APEC "China Year."

Guo said the SOM serves as the main channel for preparing outcomes for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and is held four to five times a year.

The upcoming SOM in south China's Guangzhou will focus on the theme "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together" and the three priorities -- openness, innovation and cooperation -- to fully launch cooperation across various sectors and mechanisms and engage in in-depth discussions on specific collaborations to accumulate outcomes for the November meeting, he said.

More than 50 events will be held alongside the SOM, with approximately 1,000 delegates expected to attend, Guo said, adding that journalists are welcome to follow and report the events. ■