APEC ministerial meeting adopts Chengdu Statement on digital technologies, AI

CHENGDU - The 2026 APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting has adopted a ministerial statement with all parties agreeing to jointly promote digital and AI technologies to empower the Asia-Pacific community, which provides an action framework for deepening cooperation in these fields in the coming years in the region.

The ministerial meeting, as an important platform for promoting exchange and cooperation in digital, information and communication technology sectors across the Asia-Pacific region, was held Thursday in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, under the theme of "Digital Technologies and AI for the Empowerment of an Asia-Pacific Community."

On the outcomes of the meeting, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Lecheng, who chaired the session, noted that the meeting placed emphasis on accelerating the development of communication and computing infrastructure.

Li said that the consensus reached, particularly the specific elaborations on promoting the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional industries and supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in leveraging lightweight digital tools to enhance their competitiveness, has provided people-centered and context-specific development pathways for all Asia-Pacific economies.

"China will continue to leverage the APEC mechanism, strengthen cooperation with all economies, implement the consensus reached at this meeting, and deepen exchanges and collaboration," Li added.