Asia-Pacific leaders echoed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for open and free trade, even if not in so many words. As the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit wrapped up in South Korea’s Gyeongju on November 1, leaders of the 21 Asia-Pacific Rim nations acknowledged the need for greater cooperation” in the face of “significant challenges”.
In a joint statement declared on the last day of the summit, the leaders said they “acknowledge the global trading system continues to face significant challenges.” “We reaffirm our shared recognition that robust trade and investment are vital to the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement read.
Global economy has been hit hard by trade tensions between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, even as US President Donald Trump has been on a tariff-imposing spree on most countries of the world.
The most important highlight of the event was perhaps the de-escalation of a long-standing trade war between China and the US, which happened as the outcome of a meeting between Trump and Jinping, on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
On Thursday, Trump and Jinping dialed back earlier steps and agreed to de-escalate trade tensions. However, Trump, known for his dismissal of multilateralism, quickly left South Korea after the trade agreement with Xi, allowing the Chinese president to steal the limelight at the summit.
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The joint declaration also said that APEC members remain committed to the Putrajaya Vision 2040, a new 20-year growth vision adopted in 2020 that calls for a trade environment that’s “free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable.”
Another statement issued by the APEC leaders on Saturday called for a coordinated approach to the changes brought on by AI (Artificial Intelligence), which they described as a “potential economic catalyst that also poses challenges in rapidly evolving digital environments”.
They also urged for cooperation to address declining birth rates, ageing populations and accelerated urbanisation.
Jeonghun Min, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, said the statement avoided direct language supporting “free and open trade,” but still managed to endorse economic cooperation and multilateralism, which embody “the very purpose of free trade”.
On Friday, Xi had told the summit that China would support global free trade and supply chain stability and that “investing in China is investing in the future.” This was seen as Xi’s effort to address Trump’s protectionist policies and reinforce his country’s position as the next-big economic destination.
Xi also met with his Japanese, Canadian, Thai and South Korean counterparts bilaterally on Friday and Saturday to touch on efforts to achieve de-nuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
However, that agenda has apparently angered North Korea, a non-APEC member, whose Vice Foreign Minister, Pak Myong Ho, on Saturday slammed South Korea for talking about “its daydream” of realising North Korea’s denuclearisation.
Trump had earlier repeatedly expressed his desire to meet North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, during his visit to South Korea, but North Korea did not respond. Trump and Kim met three times in 2018-19, but their nuclear diplomacy eventually collapsed.
Established in 1989, APEC champions free and open trade and investment to promote regional economic integration. But the region now faces challenges such as the US-China rivalry, supply chain disruptions, ageing populations and the impact of AI on jobs.
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