Backgrounder: China and APEC

Updated: 2011-11-12 14:26

(Xinhua)

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HONOLULU - The 19th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Honolulu, Hawaii, the United States.

China has played an important part in this forum, which was established in November 1989 to facilitate economic cooperation among 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

China joined the group together with Hong Kong -- later called China's Hong Kong -- and Chinese Taipei in 1991 because APEC recognizes the "one-China" principle and respects the differences between sovereign states and regional economies.

APEC provides an important platform for China to conduct mutually beneficial cooperation with other member economies and actively carry out its multilateral diplomacy.

China's membership has boosted its own development and greatly contributed to regional and world economic progress.

China has actively participated in the wide-ranging cooperation within the APEC framework. Chinese presidents have attended all APEC Economic Leaders Meetings and the active, balanced and rational proposals they made at those meetings have won wide acclaim.

The 9th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting was successfully held in Shanghai in October 2001. Key documents it endorsed, including the APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration, the Shanghai Accord and the Program of Action to New Economy Challenge: Digital APEC Strategy, have boosted the ties between China and other member economies.

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for roughly 70 percent of China's foreign trade and more than 70 percent of the foreign direct investment in China. China has benefited greatly from the progress in this region.

Meanwhile, China has also played a constructive role in APEC. In recent years, the Chinese government has actively enhanced cooperation with other member economies and the rest of the world to jointly tackle the global financial crisis.