Speech to high-level meeting stresses need to advance economic integration

President Xi Jinping has called for building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future featuring openness and inclusiveness, innovation-driven growth, greater connectivity and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Xi made the statement while addressing the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting via video link in Beijing on Friday. 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".

In his speech, 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," he said.

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

As a champion of an open world economy, China has applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement among 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a freetrade agreement among 15 Asia-Pacific nations that will create the world's largest trading bloc and will enter into force on schedule next year.