China is seeking to work closely with members of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to push forward
liberalization of trade and investment and tackle security
concerns, according to officials and experts.
Leaders of the 21 economies of APEC members will gather in
Hanoi, Viet Nam this weekend to discuss ways of reviving the
stalled Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks.
Talks collapsed in July amid disagreements over subsidies and
tariffs for agricultural goods.
President Hu Jintao will attend the forum along with US
President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Leaders are also expected to look for ways to combat pirated
goods at the meeting, according to Vietnamese sources.
"APEC can lead the way for all members of the WTO to reignite
negotiations and conclude the Doha Development Agenda next year,"
Le Cong Phung, deputy foreign minister of Viet Nam, was quoted as
saying.
"If APEC can identify a way forward, this path will most likely
be suitable to the broader WTO membership," he noted.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Chong Quan said earlier that
Beijing will continue to appeal for more economic openness and the
facilitation of trade and investment.
APEC was established in 1989, and its members account for about
40 percent of the world's population, 56 percent of the world's
gross domestic product (GDP) and approximately 48 percent of world
trade.
China, which hosted an APEC meeting in 2001 in Shanghai, has
close economic and trade ties with APEC, according to Chong.
Its trade with APEC members reached US$960.7 billion last year,
nearly 68 percent of its total foreign trade, and nine of its top
10 overseas trading partners are from APEC.
Ministers will meet from November 15-16 in the Vietnamese
capital to prepare for the leaders' meeting, which will be held on
November 18 and 19.
The meeting is expected to draw about 10,000 people, including
many international business leaders.
According to sources familiar with the forum, leaders will adopt
a five-year "Hanoi action plan" outlining specific policies aimed
at lifting trade barriers.
Security concerns
The nuclear issue in the Korean Peninsular will inevitably be a
hot topic at the summit, said Liu Junhong, an international affairs
expert with the China Institute of Contemporary International
Relations.
The forum is the first time leaders of state from the United
States, China, Japan, Russia and the Republic of Korea have
gathered together since the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK) conducted a nuclear test early last month.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, President Hu will
meet with US President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Abe on the
sidelines of the meeting.
"Besides bilateral relations, the DPRK nuclear issue will be at
the top of the agenda," Liu told China Daily.
APEC, which mainly handles problems concerning globalization and
economic openness, started to touch on security issues following
the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.
Many commitments of APEC are non-binding and few expect major
policy announcements, according to Liu.
However, he said that the meeting serves as an important
platform for top leaders to conduct strategic dialogue, which lays
the groundwork for policies.
(China Daily November 15, 2006)