Xi Jinping Attends and Delivers an Important Speech at the 28th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. MOFA People's Republic of China©
Between the 16th and the 18th of November, Bangkok hosted the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Summit for 2022. The meeting, held annually, is an occasion for top business executives to engage in dialogue with leaders of the APEC countries over pressing topics regarding the economy, development, and regional integration. This year’s meeting has been particularly significant because it took place, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, in an in-person format, with leaders joining the meeting in the Athenee Hotel in Bangkok. One of the (if not the most) high-profile guests at the Summit was recently reconfirmed Chinese President Xi Jinping, who gave a speech addressed to fellow Asian Pacific countries that could provide insights into the future of Chinese relations in the region.
China and APEC
China joined APEC in 1991, two years after its creation. Its APEC membership bore several benefits for the country (APEC, 2009). At the time, China was not yet a member of the World Trade Organisation, and APEC became a useful vehicle for enhancing China’s trade and internationalisation, strengthening its ties with countries that are today among its biggest trade partners. By becoming a member of APEC, China began to benefit from tariff reductions, starting to reduce its own as well. According to China Briefing, in 1989, the year of the creation of APEC, tariffs in Asia stood at approximately 16% on all goods, but had dropped to 5.5% by 2004 thanks to the success of the organisation in reinforcing economic cooperation among its members (China Briefing, 2013).
APEC was created with the objective of fostering economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Today it accounts for members in four continents, and it has been instrumental in fostering economic growth and trade integration. Apart from its core objective, the organisation offers its members’ leaders a platform to meet and discuss topics that vary from economic cooperation to development cooperation. APEC leaders’ meetings have been taking place since 1993, when the first informal leadership meeting was held in Seattle. Since then, leaders have been meeting yearly, advancing proposals on how to fruitfully cooperate (Xinhua, 2000).
China has always been active in the multilateral meeting, recognising the opportunities that APEC brought. In 2001, when China became the host of APEC meetings for that year, then-Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and co-chair of the 13th APEC Ministerial Meeting Shi Guangsheng defined APEC as the most important regional organisation that China was part of (China.org, 2001). As of 2022 (according to the data shared by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China), APEC countries, such as the US or Japan, are among the most important trading partners of the country, topped by the ASEAN and EU countries, which are China’s largest trading blocks.
Through the years, APEC served as a platform for China not only to strengthen economic ties, but also to share its ideas on the development of the region. In 2014, during the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and almost a year after the inauguration of the Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi used the occasion to promote the start of the process of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), linking it to the then-core goals to strengthen economic ties and infrastructures construction, foster policy communication and regulation synergies (PRC MOFA, 2014). In 2022, APEC members are facing different obstacles that have called for a change in approach: the countries are currently following the Putrajaya Vision 2040 to create a prosperous, resilient, and dynamic Asia-Pacific. The Vision’s goal is to boost three main economic drivers: trade and investment; innovation and digitalisation; and strong, balanced, sustainable, and inclusive growth (APEC, 2020). To better implement the Vision, in 2022, APEC countries agreed on the Bangkok Goals for Bio-Circular Economy, merging their interest in further economic cooperation and integration with the need for a more sustainable growth system and the challenging needs brought by digitalisation and the development of digital trade (APEC, 2022). APEC countries are pushing toward integration in different areas, and this falls in line with the Chinese goal of an Asia-Pacific with a shared future.
Xi’s Speech in Thailand: Build an Asia-Pacific with a shared future
President Xi joined the APEC Summit arriving in Thailand on the 17th of November (Xinhua, 2022). The Summit was just one of the recent international meetings in which he took part personally. Since reaffirming his position during the China National 20th Party Congress, President Xi has met with over 25 leaders in domestic and international meetings by joining the G20 Summit in Bali, meeting with Middle Eastern leaders in Saudi Arabia for the first China-Arab States summit, and hosting meetings with various European leaders (Cheng, 2022). These international meetings show the determination of China to revive its international relations and diplomatic strategies, and to reaffirm its role in the post-pandemic era: Xi’s speech at the APEC Summit, held right after his visit to Bali, presents various hints on what role China intends to play in the Asian-Pacific region. The core theme expressed through Xi’s words is to “join hands together to build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future and take Asia-Pacific cooperation to a new height” (CGTN, 2022). The Chinese leader addressed the entire region articulating his speech in four main points, each of which will be necessary to reach this goal.
Firstly, President Xi called for actions to build an Asia-Pacific of peace and stability, taking action to make the international system more just and responsible by acting through mutual respect and not interfering with each country's internal system and order. Secondly, the speech touched on the importance of remaining committed to openness and inclusivity to reach win-win cooperation. Xi mentioned that it is vital for Asia-Pacific to continue to pursue open regionalism. In this regard, the Chinese leader highlighted that it is necessary to continue to work towards the FTAAP. He also announced China’s intention to continue to work towards joining regional and transregional economic partnerships, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and presented the possibility to hold a new BRI Forum for international cooperation in 2023.
The speech proceeded to stress the need to foster a low-carbon Asia-Pacific, referring to the recently announced Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular Economy and offering support for its implementation. In this regard, President Xi also highlighted the need to pursue the UN 2030 Agenda for 2030 and invited Asia-Pacific countries to join the Global Development Initiative, which aims to enhance practical cooperation in poverty reduction, food and energy security, health, and other areas. Lastly, President Xi highlighted the need to interpret cooperation in Asia-Pacific from a strategic and long-term perspective, announcing that China intends to “advance a broader agenda of opening up across more areas and in greater depth, follow the Chinese path to modernization, put in place new systems for a higher-standard open economy, and continue to share our development opportunities with the world, particularly with the Asia-Pacific region”(CGTN, 2022).
With both Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin absent from the meeting, Xi Jinping was probably the most high-profile guest at the meeting, and, with the speech, he made the most out of the meeting, seizing the opportunity to re-introduce Chinese goals within the APEC narrative. The Chinese leader achieved this not only by announcing a new BRI Forum, but also by inviting fellow members to join the Global Development Initiative, which promises to be a huge development plan and has been devised to fit within the internationally UN SDG Agenda for 2030.
Open Regionalism and China’s role in the Asia-Pacific
In his speech, Xi Jinping stated that it is vital for APEC to continue to pursue open regionalism and work toward the achievement of the FTAAP. Open Regionalism and the FTAAP are high in the Chinese agenda for APEC, but also deeply rooted in the history of APEC itself. The first person who opened the possibility for the creation of a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific was Japanese economist Kiyoshi Kojima in 1966, enhancing the awareness of the potential of the region (PECC, 2007). While the possibility of its creation has been an issue through the 21st century, it was not until 2014 that APEC countries pledged to take concrete action towards it. In 2014, China, who was at the time the host of the APEC meetings, put FTAAP at the top of the agenda for its events, understanding the potential, in terms of economic integration, of such an agreement.
Open Regionalism is equally important for the country for a similar reason. Even though the term has been significant for the Chinese agenda, especially in Asia, it is also deeply rooted in the very creation of a regional approach to economic cooperation in the region. According to Australian economists Peter Drysdale and Ross Garnaut, open regionalism derives directly from themes such as market integration and aims at fostering regional cooperation and integration through the liberalisation of the market. As opposed to other regional trade agreements, such as NAFTA, the EU, or even ASEAN, it aims to do so with a non-discriminatory approach towards the outsiders. In 1989, this became one of the founding principles of APEC, and, in the 2022 leaders’ declaration published after the meeting, APEC members remarked on the importance to continue pursuing both open regionalism and significant discussions on the FTAAT (APEC, 2022).
Trade liberalisation agreements are significant for China, as they function as enablers for its regional goals. For example, the BRI, given the nature of the projects it promotes, benefits from tariffs and border delays reduction. Trade and economic integration also play an important part in Chinese diplomatic strategy, and, through the BRI and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the country advances its economic and strategic influence in the region, serving as a means to further China’s goal of becoming the leading power in Asia. However, an agreement like the FTAAT, which would overtake other discriminatory agreements in the region, is still incredibly appealing for the country, as it would help China to achieve a unifying economic strategy that can boost its role in the region and make its exclusion from regional dynamics harder – in other words, preventing an excessive presence of the United States in the region.
In her speech at the 2022 CEO Summit, Vice President Kamala Harris remarked on the importance that the Indo-Pacific holds for the United States, highlighting the efforts made by the Biden Administration to strengthen their ties with the countries in the region. The Vice President also mentioned the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) (The White House, 2022). The IPEF, launched in May 2022, is the new economic agreement that aims to strengthen economic ties between the US and its partners in Asia, especially after the US’ withdrawal from the CPTTP; the agreement includes fourteen partners and it does not include China.
In this regard, the competition between China and the US is one of the most important dynamics in the region, and it may suggest a change in strategy from the Chinese perspective. With the announcement of the Global Development Initiative, the Chinese strategy is shifting, incorporating the themes of sustainable development, poverty reduction and policy coordination. The objective of the GDI, proposed by Xi Jinping in 2021, is to boost cooperation and coordination towards the achievement of the UN 2030 SDGs Agenda. According to Prime Minister Wang Yi, the initiative has already received support from 100 countries (CGTN, 2022). The initiative does not only enjoy the support of the countries, but it has also gained a positive response within the UN, as it introduces an approach to sustainable development with Chinese characteristics (Chatterjee, 2022). This will transform China’s influence over developing countries and ultimately shift its role in the Asia-Pacific region. The launch of the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular Economy represents an important chance for China to merge its goals within the GDI and the APEC goals for future development. With the meeting being the last of the year for APEC, and Thailand passing the baton to the United States as host, it is very likely that in 2023 the Forums will become an occasion for both the United States and China to make decisive steps in boosting their role in the region, with China ready to seize the opportunity and step into a leading role in the area.
About the Author
Alessandra Tamponi holds a MA degree in International Relations and East Asian countries obtained at the University of Groningen. Her interest in China started as a teenager, thanks to an exchange opportunity that led her to Harbin when she was sixteen years old. Before becoming a member of the editorial team of European Guanxi, Alessandra worked as an intern for the European Institute of Asian Studies in Brussels, and the EuroChamber of Mongolia.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not represent the views of European Guanxi.
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