President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Nov 12 via video link from Beijing. (LI XIANG / XINHUA)

President Xi Jinping’s speeches to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Nov 11 and 12 will help push the group further toward openness, free trade and green transition, experts worldwide said.

They also said that Xi’s pledges to develop a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system and to support businesses offer significant assurance to market players, particularly private businesses, and bolster investor confidence.

In his Nov 11 speech, Xi stressed the need for the region to advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, keep industrial and supply chains stable and functioning, and promote the orderly flow of resources and input to boost economic recovery and achieve interconnected development.

“We should all be broad-minded, follow the underlying trend of the times and proactively expand opening-up,” Xi said in a prerecorded keynote speech to the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit.

The president made a four-point proposal for the region to work toward the goal of building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. The four specific areas to work on are: advancing anti-COVID collaboration and promoting economic recovery; fostering an open Asia-Pacific economy; promoting innovation-driven development and the digital economy; and pursuing inclusive and sustainable development.

Dennis Munene, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute, described the Nov 11 speech as a “call for unity, fortitude and hope” in the global quest to fight COVID-19, while embracing openness and collaboration and promoting green transition and innovation for APEC.

Australian sinologist Colin Mackerras, who is emeritus professor at Griffith University, Queensland, noted that Xi “emphasized cooperation in fighting COVID and promoting green transition”.

Addressing the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Nov 12, Xi said the Asia-Pacific region has become the most “dynamic and promising economic powerhouse globally”.

On continuing progress toward achieving the Bogor Goals, Xi said, “We adopted the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 and set ourselves the goal of an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community, charting the course for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.”

The Bogor Goals refers to the long-term goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific. The Putrajaya Vision 2040, adopted at the APEC summit last year, aims for an “open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040, for the prosperity of all our people and future generations”.

China would continue its “good work” to put the vision into action and “endeavor to build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future”, Xi said.

James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, said the four points Xi identified “would be broadly welcomed by the countries of the region, including Australia”.

As the dominant power in East Asia, China has a special role to play, Laurenceson said. “As President Xi said in Canberra in 2014, everyone looks upon China as ‘the big guy in the room’. This is even more so today.”

In his Nov 11 speech, Xi said the Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era.

“We should be forward looking, move ahead and reject practices of discrimination and exclusion of others. Attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds are bound to fail,” Xi said.

Oleg Timofeev, associate professor at RUDN University in Russia, said Xi’s remarks were timely and of great significance. The Asia-Pacific region should make every effort to avoid a Cold War mentality, Timofeev said.

Mackerras, from Griffith University, said Xi is “all out for nations getting on with one another”.

Xi opposed attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds, Mackerras noted.

Galina Kostyunina, professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said Xi emphasized the establishment of an open Asia-Pacific economy and high-level trading zones, which will be an important aim of development for the region.

Andrey Ostrovsky, director of the Center for Chinese Economy and Social Studies of the Institute of Far East at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said China’s initiative on establishing high-level Asia-Pacific free trade zones will provide new momentum for regional and global trading and help post-pandemic recovery.

Addressing the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting via video link on Nov 12, Xi underlined the need to advance regional economic integration, and called for the early realization of a high-standard Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. 

“We need to practice true multilateralism, stick to dialogue rather than confrontation, inclusiveness rather than exclusion, and integration rather than decoupling, and be resolute in safeguarding the multilateral trading regime with the World Trade Organization at its core,” Xi said in his speech.

This year’s meeting was hosted by New Zealand with the theme “Recovering from COVID-19 to Build Prosperity for All Our People and Future Generations”.

China supports the implementation of the Enhanced APEC Agenda for Structural Reform and the APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap, Xi added.

As the pandemic is still raging globally, Xi called for efforts to advance antivirus cooperation and promote economic recovery in the region.

“We need to follow a science-based approach in pandemic response, deepen international cooperation, promote the research, development, production and fair distribution of vaccines, ensure their accessibility and affordability in developing countries, and close the immunization gap,” he said.

China has announced that it will provide a total of 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world this year, and has so far provided over 1.7 billion doses, including donations to more than 110 countries, according to the Chinese president. 

In terms of developing the digital economy in the region, Xi called for implementing the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap in a full and balanced manner, and fostering an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for innovation and the growth of productivity.

Munene of the China-Africa Center said that Xi, in acknowledging the resilience of the Asia-Pacific in dealing with the pandemic, emphasized the need to be guided by science, and to extend assistance to others.

Professor Junichiro Kustumoto of Toyo University in Japan said, “COVID-19 has reminded people of the importance of rational thinking and the development of science and technology.”

Xi said the Asia-Pacific region should pursue a green post-pandemic recovery and take the lead in making a science-based response to climate change. He reiterated China’s commitment to advance a green transition on all fronts and fully carry out its national strategy on climate change response.

While stressing the need to pursue inclusive and sustainable development, Xi reiterated China’s commitment to peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, as well as its support for developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energies.

Noting that China has started a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country, Xi said the country will unswervingly expand opening-up and share its development opportunities with APEC members and the wider world. The nation will build a high-standard market system and work to make new progress in reforming important areas and key links, he said.

“We will unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector, and unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the nonpublic sector. We treat all types of market entities on an equal basis, and we are working to develop a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system,” Xi said.

He said the recent antitrust moves from Chinese government departments, and measures to strengthen oversight of some sectors, were enacted in order to “promote the sound development of the market economy in China”.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said he believes that Xi’s words are a clear signal about China’s regulatory stance, as outsiders do not fully understand the recent regulatory approaches toward certain sectors.

“It is worth noting from this message that despite regulatory approaches toward specific sectors, China is resolved to lead globalization … ,” said Li Ke’aobo, deputy director of Tsinghua University’s Academic Center for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking.

Honson To, chairman of KPMG Asia-Pacific and China, said he believes China’s attractiveness to foreign investors will continue to rise.

Wang Xu in Tokyo, Zhang Yue, Zhong Nan and Zhou Lanxu contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at karlwilson@chinadailyapac.com