China supports Chile to have a successful and fruitful APEC year, Lu Mei, a Chinese Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) senior official, said on Friday.
"The success of APEC Chile year in 2019 will be extremely important and meaningful, not only for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific but also for the whole world," Lu said when attending the third 2019 APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM3) held in Chile's Puerto Varas.
"The SOM3 is the last senior officials' preparatory meeting before the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) in November. During the meeting, under the theme of 'Connecting people, building the future,' member economies had fruitful discussion and made substantial progress around the priority areas of digital economy, regional economic integration, connectivity, marine cooperation, and women and inclusive growth," said Lu.
China is fully committed to APEC cooperation and strongly supports Chile's leadership for a successful APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting , Lu noted.
"This year marks the 30th anniversary of APEC," said Lu, noting that "as the premier economic cooperation forum in the Asia-Pacific, APEC has made significant contributions to the growth and prosperity of the region over the past decades."
"China expects this year's AELM to send a clear and positive message in supporting the multilateral trading system, promoting free and open trade and investment, and opposing protectionism, so as to inject vigor and strength into the global economy," Lu noted.
"This year is also an important year for formulating the post-2020 vision for APEC. We hope that the AELM will provide political guidance for a forward-looking and strategic post-2020 vision, which will further reinforce the core mission and value of APEC, and enable APEC to maintain its leading role in Asia-Pacific cooperation," said Lu.
"China stands ready to work with Chile and other member economies in the spirit of collaboration, mutual respect, and consensus building, to make the upcoming Economic Leaders' Meeting a great success," added the senior official.
