APEC leaders must now add substance to vision for growth

Despite the lackluster global economic recovery, the Asia-Pacific has remained the world's most economically dynamic region and the main engine of global growth.

Ballast for long-term growth

Premier Li Keqiang commented on the important role consumption plays in driving China's economic growth at a recent meeting with economic experts and entrepreneurs.

Singles Day sales record shows vitality of domestic consumption

SATURDAY MARKED the annual Nov 11 online shopping sales. The total amount generated in the sales this year is not yet known, but it will definitely set a record because within 13 hours it had exceeded 120.7 billion yuan ($18.1 billion), the total for the whole day last year. The Economic Observer comments:

Urgent to curb overuse of antibiotics in animals

ON NOV 7, the World Health Organization issued formal guidelines for the animal industries, which calls for food-animal producers to refrain from using antibiotics in healthy animals, so as to curb the rampancy of drug-resistant bacteria. Thepaper.cn comments:

Shanghai sets good example for short-hire bikes

ON AUG 18, the Shanghai Transportation Commission calculated that the total number of short-hire bicycles in the city far exceeded the city's parking capacity, so it forbade enterprises from putting new ones into use and asked enterprises to maintain the existing ones well. Recently the commission said it had already removed about 500,000 bicycles that had been left in inappropriate places. Guangzhou Daily comments:

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Asia rising on mutually beneficial policy

There are signs that the Philippines-China relationship is among the priorities for both countries. This signifies not just the assistance (China is offering the Philippines), but also the trust it is gaining in doing so, the establishment of comfortable relations between China and the Philippines.

Trade essential for regional integration

While President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Laos after attending the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and visiting Vietnam, Premier Li Keqiang is in the Philippines to take part in a series of high-level meetings across five days starting Sunday, including the 20th China-ASEAN (10+1) leaders' meeting and the 20th ASEAN-China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (10+3) leaders' meeting, and the 12th East Asia Summit. The senior leaders' diplomatic moves, the first after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, highlight the great importance China attaches to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

China can help fight terrorism in SE Asia

At the 43rd Philippine Business Conference in October, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the bullet that killed Isnilon Hapilon, Islamic State's "emir" in Southeast Asia, in Marawi was fired from a sniper rifle made in China. "It was only China who gave it on time and plenty, plenty," he said. Among those attending the conference was Zhao Jianhua, China's ambassador to the Philippines.

Japan-ROK rift means military alliance with US not possible

Japan and the Republic of Korea, both US allies, watched closely how the other hosted US President Donald Trump when he visited the two countries last week. Compared with his one-night stay in Seoul, Trump's three-day visit to Tokyo gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe more time to tee off and talk with the US president.

Asia-Pacific's role vital to free trade

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to continue driving world economic growth and promoting free trade at a time when many countries are grappling to find ways to push forward globalization. Accounting for about 60 percent of the global gross domestic product, the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation makes up nearly half of the world's trade and 40 percent of its population.

Tackle 'gray rhinos' before it's too late

The term "gray rhino" has been frequently cropping up in international discussions. Gray rhinos are crises that develop slowly and are usually ignored until it is too late. Examples include accumulating financial risks from rising debt levels, wild fluctuations in the exchange rates of major currencies (like the US dollar), increasing tensions between major powers (such as the United States and Russia), and rising tensions in regional hot spots (such as the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East).