APEC trade ministerial meeting gains 5 achievements: Chinese official

HANOI - The 23rd Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) taking place here from May 20-21 gained five major achievements, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen has said.

The achievements include speeding up regional economic integration as well as development of a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific region; supporting the multilateral trading system; promoting trade interconnection; touching upon the promotion of sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth, as well as enhancing competitive edges of small- and medium-sized enterprises and innovation; and put the "post-2020 vision" on agenda, the Chinese official told Xinhua on Sunday.

The Chinese side put forward a new concept of co-trading, co-building, and sharing for regional cooperation, and other proposals like comprehensively attaining a high-quality free trade area in the Asia-Pacific region, constructing comprehensive trading interconnection, creating a more inclusive global value chain in the region, and cultivating new sources of economic growth, said Wang.

The outcomes of the meeting closely correspond with the main proposals in China's Belt and Road Initiative, and resemble the orientations put forward by China at the recent Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to build an open world economy, create an open platform for cooperation, reinforce the multilateral trading system, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and build the community of common destiny of mankind, Wang added.