Boao Seeks Solutions for APEC's Revival Path: Building Consensus, Fostering Emerging Industries to Drive Growth

Ask AI · How Can APEC Balance Flexibility and Execution to Promote Cooperation?

Nanfang Finance 21st Century Economic Herald reporter Hu Huiyin Lai Zentaо; Boao and Guangzhou report

As risks of global economic fragmentation intensify and undercurrents of trade protectionism gather momentum, can the Asia-Pacific region continue to retain its vitality as a driver of global growth? How can we revitalize APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), inject new momentum into regional cooperation, and become one of the core questions facing the 2026 Boao Forum for Asia?

From March 24 to 27, the 2026 Boao Forum for Asia will be held in Boao, Hainan. This year’s Boao Forum for Asia, themed “Shaping a Shared Future: New Circumstances, New Opportunities, New Cooperation,” continues to deepen regional cooperation topics such as APEC and RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), showing its core logic: to seek consensus amid division, and to create opportunities amid profound changes. This fully demonstrates that, in the face of a complex external environment, Asian countries value cooperation platforms even more, and they need to build trust and dispel doubts through dialogue and consultation.

On the 26th, at the sub-forum titled “Revitalizing APEC: Moving Toward a Vision for an Asia-Pacific Community,” participating guests held discussions around topics such as APEC’s value, the key topics of APEC’s “China Year,” and the synergistic effects among regional cooperation mechanisms.

In an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Economic Herald, New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Hipkly said, “We should focus on areas where both sides can reach consensus. Where APEC delivers its greatest value is in opening up cooperation pathways and consolidating momentum for development. Although there is still a great deal of work ahead, the outlook is promising.”

In November this year, the 33rd Informal Meeting of APEC Leaders will be held in Shenzhen, China. Participating guests are full of expectations for China’s third time serving as APEC host. Carlos Gutierrez, the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, said, “We should be confident and firmly seize the historical opportunity at hand. Facts have already proven that China’s development model is effective. Therefore, we should unwaveringly continue to practice these correct ideas. ‘This is not only a commitment to China’s own development, but also provides valuable experience that can be referenced by countries around the world and sets a good example for the world. I look forward to China hosting another successful APEC meeting.’”

Against the backdrop of new changes in the global economic and trade landscape and the protectionist shock to the global economic and trade order, the importance of regional cooperation is rising further.

The report “Asia Economic Outlook and Integration Progress” released during the 2026 Boao Forum shows that, in the face of the backflow of unilateralism and protectionism, regionalization and diversification have become realistic choices. We should uphold open development, keep firmly to the right direction forward, accelerate the process of regional economic integration, and build an open, inclusive, and win-win global economic and trade landscape.

At the press conference, Zhang Jun, Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia, candidly acknowledged that the process of Asia’s economic integration and sustainable development will inevitably involve many difficulties and challenges. However, as long as all parties have firm confidence, remain united in cooperation, and press forward with courage and determination, they will certainly be able to further promote Asia’s economy toward high-quality development and build a new development pattern that supports the “Asian Century.”

In fact, this is precisely the original intention behind the creation of the APEC mechanism. More than 30 years ago, when vitality in the Asia-Pacific regional economy began to emerge, it was driven by the strong desire of Asia-Pacific economies for openness and cooperation. The APEC mechanism was thus born. In just a few years that followed, APEC upgraded from a ministerial-level consultation mechanism to an informal meeting of leaders, completing a crucial step in institutional upgrading and establishing an inclusive, diversified, flexible, and pragmatic cooperation platform for the Asia-Pacific region.

As the highest-level and broadest-scope economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC has a complex membership composition, widely differing levels of economic development, broad geographic coverage, and significant difficulty in carrying out integration cooperation—yet it is precisely this seemingly “hardest-to-coordinate” big family that, driven by the active advocacy of APEC members, has charted a cooperation path that acknowledges differences while remaining flexible and pragmatic.

“With the strengthening of Asia’s voice, deepening regional interdependence, and rising demand for support for the multilateral trading system, APEC’s value has become even more prominent. As a flexible dialogue platform, it enables the 21 member economies to sit down together and reach consensus.” Pedroza, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, said when reviewing the historical context of APEC cooperation. “APEC’s mission is to build an open, dynamic, and resilient Asia-Pacific community, and to promote trade and investment integration.” He particularly emphasized the importance of “interoperability,” meaning cooperation and coordination in a practical manner, with practical measures being key.

Regarding the APEC mechanism itself, there are also certain limitations. Pedroza said that APEC’s distinct philosophy lies in open regionalism. Although member economies form agreements and reach consensus through cooperation, these outcomes usually do not have legally binding force, thereby ensuring that all members move forward in the same direction and efficiently achieve strategic goals through common action plans.

New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Hipkly also holds a similar view, worrying that APEC has shifted from “focusing on achieving results” to “focusing on following procedures, holding meetings, and conducting consultations,” but the outcomes are not evident. She said that APEC is essentially an economic forum, not a geopolitical one. Today, geopolitics and trade policies have been distorted into malicious tools, posing an extremely subtle challenge for people. The core advantage of APEC lies in being led by the business community and driven by investment, creativity, and a variety of high-quality ideas to push regional cooperation forward. “But currently, the setup and development of this institution called APEC are facing enormous risks and challenges.”

“Revitalizing the APEC mechanism” has become a consensus among forum guests. At present, APEC development is at a new historical starting point. After basically achieving the “Bogor Goals” in 2020, how to further advance the “Putrajaya Vision 2040 of APEC” formulated in Malaysia in 2020, and how to promote inclusive development that benefits all and raise the level of regional interconnectivity—these have become the issues each member needs to confront directly.

In an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Economic Herald, Pedroza said that we aim to build APEC into a stable dialogue platform, and we are committed to conducting regulatory dialogue and policy coordination within this framework. Although each member economy has the initiative to drive development independently, we need to return to the original intention and purpose of APEC’s founding. On this basis, we should actively respond to the challenges at hand and widely involve young entrepreneurs in depth in the cooperation process. This will not only help them better recognize and accept our working mechanisms, but also help us gather new momentum, ultimately enabling us to jointly achieve the established vision and mission.

For the specific path to revitalizing the APEC mechanism, Hipkly offered several suggestions. First, adopt responsible fiscal policies and firmly eliminate the risk of excessive debt accumulation. The key to revitalizing APEC lies in giving equal weight to both “adding” and “subtracting.” We need to adhere to the core vision to ensure that the focus of cooperation is more prominent; at the same time, we should fully take into account the demands of other APEC economies. Second, under the APEC framework, any policy must be discussed and tested, and ensured to flow effectively into related areas such as labor and human resource mobility. When drafting any documents, the starting point should be whether “the majority of APEC member economies can implement them on the ground.” After all, if a vision has no supporting roadmap and specific content, it is meaningless. If we fail to listen to the real voices of the business community, it is also just talk.

At the forum, the role of the United States within the APEC mechanism also became a hotly debated focus. Guests generally agree that the United States’ participation is crucial to the orderly functioning of APEC and to deepening cooperation. At the same time, they also clearly point out that the current U.S. tariff policies, its lukewarm attitude toward climate issues, and the loosening of AI regulation are bringing significant policy uncertainty, potentially affecting cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Gordie Haide, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, believes that the United States is currently undergoing a profound strategic transition, but such policy swings leave many international organizations in a dilemma. “We cannot simply wait passively for the United States to establish its policy direction. Countries that need joint efforts, including China and India, urgently need to work together to build a more trustworthy and more resilient regional architecture. This architecture should incorporate expanded forces such as an expanded European Union and ASEAN. No matter what the final form is, its core goal is to unite the world’s mid-sized and middle powers and form a stable pillar of cooperation.”

He emphasized that within the APEC framework, “we are fully capable of creating a stable and promising policy environment through forward-looking regulatory innovation, thereby attracting more capital investment and injecting new vitality into the regional economy.”

“The Asia-Pacific region faces more dangerous and complex challenges, especially the instability of international security. Many South American countries, including Peru and Chile, are deeply concerned; they worry that the Asia-Pacific region could be split into two opposing camps.” Yang Rongwen, Singapore’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Commerce, said that against this backdrop, China is shouldering a special historical mission and needs to play a key role in maintaining regional peace and the overall goal of integration.

APEC’s “China Year” has been officially launched, and this year is also China’s third time as host. In 2001, China hosted the 9th Informal Meeting of APEC Leaders in Shanghai, advancing regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific by solid steps. In 2014, China again served as host for APEC, holding the 22nd Informal Meeting of APEC Leaders in Beijing and launching the process of building an Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area. China’s experience hosting twice not only injected strong vitality into the APEC mechanism, but also continued to shine the “golden brand” of APEC as the global landscape evolves.

Over the past 25 years, although Asia-Pacific countries have experienced various ups and downs in regional cooperation, China and Asia-Pacific countries have never changed their original aspiration to move forward together and jointly achieve the goals of an Asia-Pacific community. China has continued to be a “stable anchor” in a turbulent world.

In 2026, the Chinese side will set “Building an Asia-Pacific Community and Promoting Shared Prosperity” as the theme for the APEC meetings, focusing on three major priority areas: openness, innovation, and cooperation. Chen Xu, Chair of the APEC Senior Officials Meeting 2026 and President of the China Public Diplomacy Association, said that by closely centering on the three priority areas of openness, innovation, and cooperation, we will further consolidate consensus and draw up blueprints, aiming to inject strong new momentum into prosperity and growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Chen Xu particularly emphasized three aspects of development. First is to jointly build an Asia-Pacific that is open and interconnected. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area vision. The Chinese side will firmly safeguard the multilateral trading system, adhere to the concept of open regionalism, actively promote the coordination and alignment of RCEP and CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), and help ensure that the construction of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area moves forward with solid new steps. The Chinese side will promote drafting APEC interconnectivity cooperation documents, pool the region’s development synergies, identify points of convergence in interests, and weave a comprehensive, full-range interconnectivity network.

Second is to build an innovation-driven Asia-Pacific. The Chinese side will host APEC Digital Week this July, deepening cooperation around core topics such as empowering with digital intelligence, AI applications, infrastructure development, data flows, and smart customs. We will focus on promoting the real-world deployment of artificial intelligence applications across thousands of industries and strengthen capacity-building for developing economies, contributing new strength to high-quality growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Third is to create a win-win Asia-Pacific through cooperation. Development among Asia-Pacific members is highly complementary, and the potential is immense. The Chinese side will make full use of APEC’s various cooperation mechanisms to continuously deepen policy communication and experience sharing. In fields such as green and low-carbon development, financial services, transportation and logistics, tourism, and small and medium-sized enterprises, we will carry out pragmatic cooperation. At the same time, we will further facilitate people-to-people exchanges and strengthen exchanges in areas such as human resources, women, youth, and the media, so that the dividends of Asia-Pacific cooperation better benefit the people of different economies.

“As of now, APEC economies account for nearly 40% of the world’s population, create more than 60% of global economic output and nearly 50% of total global trade. Together, we have helped drive the implementation and entry into force of agreements such as RCEP, CPTPP, and DEPA (Digital Economy Partnership Agreement). We seize the opportunity of a new round of technological revolution and spur the booming development of emerging industries such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and new energy vehicles.” Chen Xu said that the APEC mechanism enables member economies to realize their dreams.

This year is also the starting year of China’s “15th Five-Year Plan.” Hipkly said directly that as the “15th Five-Year Plan” is advanced, China is expected to introduce more substantive policies. In particular, as China seeks balance between promoting new productive forces, fostering economic growth, and strengthening the development of the service sector, we believe China will surely act as a “pioneer,” driving the Asia-Pacific region to achieve sustainable development.