Editor's Note: The 21st Finance Ministers' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, will be held in Beijing on Tuesday. Finance ministers of 21 APEC economies, leaders of international organizations and high-level representatives of the private sector will attend. China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei will lead the country's delegation and will serve as the chair of the meeting. Below are excerpts from a China Daily interview with Lou about the gathering.

Question: Against what background is this year's APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting held? Answer: Established in 1989, APEC is a high-level and most influential official forum for economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. It is a forum where issues relating to global and regional economic development are discussed. So it is playing a very important role in the governance of global economy. It is an important platform where economies in the Asia Pacific region conduct dialogue and cooperation on macroeconomic policies, strengthen capacity-building in the financial area and share their experiences. It also sets the stage for the discussion of financial and economic issues at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Given the weak recovery of the global economy and new challenges, such as the divergent monetary policies of advanced economies, whether the Asia Pacific region - the engine of global economic growth - can be the first to achieve robust economic recovery is attracting the attention of all sides.