— Remarks by President Hu Jintao at the 20th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting

(Vladivostok, Russia, September 9, 2012)

I am delighted to join you in the beautiful coastal city of Vladivostok to discuss ways to promote economic development in the Asia Pacific. Let me begin by thanking Russia, our host, for the thoughtful arrangements it has made for the meeting.

The world economy today is recovering slowly, and there are still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties. The underlying impact of the international financial crisis is far from over. Some countries are confronted with complex and difficult sovereign debt problems. The employment situation offers little room for optimism, and the problem of food security is acute. It has become more difficult for countries to coordinate macroeconomic policies. International trade growth is coming down notably, and protectionism is on the rise. The global economy is facing greater downward risks.

The Asia Pacific has, on the whole, maintained a fairly good growth momentum. The region has acquired a more important position and played a more prominent role in the world economy. It has made greater progress in regional economic integration, with members of the region enjoying closer business ties. Still, we should not overlook the impact that the grave challenges in the global economy are having on our region. Economic development and regional cooperation in the Asia Pacific face some new complexities, which we need to address with serious effort.

Under the current circumstances, to ensure growth, promote stability and pursue development remains the top priority of members of the region. We should continue to act in a spirit of unity and win-win cooperation, strengthen the hard-won growth momentum in the world economy, pursue development of individual members and regional cooperation in a coordinated way, take into account both the immediate imperatives and the need for long-term development and promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

First, we need to deepen reform as an impetus to growth. Deepening reform provides a source of strength for growth. We should advance the process of building global economic governance architecture with the reform of the international financial system at its core. We should reform and improve the international economic governance mechanism and build an international economic structure that is fair, just, inclusive and well-managed. We should accelerate the shift of the growth model and adjust the economic structure. We should foster change through development and seek development through change. We should cement the foundation for growth, enhance our respective competitiveness, improve the quality of growth and strive for comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable economic growth.

Second, we need to be open and cooperative. Greater openness is a prerequisite to growth. We should remain committed to opening up and resolutely oppose protectionism in all manifestations. We should continue to push forward the Doha Round negotiations, work towards a balanced and inclusive multilateral trading system that benefits all, and jointly foster a free, open and fair international trading environment. On the basis of taking into full account the differences and diversity in economic development of individual members of the region, we should pursue a policy of open regional cooperation, uphold the principle of inclusiveness and transparency, make use of the existing mechanisms and platforms and work at different levels and through multiple channels to advance the process of regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region in an incremental way.

Third, we need to pursue development together to put growth on a more solid footing. To achieve common development is the long-term goal of growth. We should establish a new type of global development partnership that is more equal and balanced. We should place greater emphasis on tapping the development potential of emerging markets and developing countries, and help developing members realize full development so that all countries and regions will share the benefits of economic development. This will bring about a sound atmosphere for economic globalization and regional economic integration. We should improve people's well-being in the course of economic development, implement a strategy conducive to full employment, and speed up the development of a sustainable social security system. We should enable all people to benefit from economic globalization and growth and create an enabling environment for members of the region to carry out reform and opening up.

"Integrate to Grow, Innovate to Prosper" is the theme of this year's APEC cooperation. Integration represents the only path towards home-driven growth in the Asia Pacific Region, and innovation gives strong support to the region's economic development at a higher level. In recent years, we have seen new progress in regional economic integration in the Asia Pacific and new breakthroughs in innovative growth of APEC economies. To deepen cooperation in the APEC priority areas for this year, I wish to propose the following:

First, we should focus on the priority areas and deepen trade and investment liberalization and regional economic integration. Trade and investment liberalization and regional economic integration are the core agenda for APEC. We should follow the spirit of the Bogor Goals and move forward trade and investment liberalization and facilitation with the Bogor Goals at its core. At the same time, we may study and discuss "next-generation" trade and investment issues in areas where APEC members have consensus, willingness and a foundation to build upon. We should take into full consideration the level of development and specific conditions of individual member economies, and advance environmental goods liberalization in an active and steady manner. We should strengthen the dissemination of environmental technologies, enhance capacity building and help developing members build environmental industries and achieve sustainable development. We should make good use of APEC as an "incubator", and provide more intellectual support to regional economic integration in the Asia Pacific.

Second, we should lay a solid foundation for food security cooperation. Food security is essential not only to a country's economy and people's livelihood, but also to the development and security of humankind. A coordinated approach is needed to address the issue. We should scale up input and encourage investment in agriculture, enhance agricultural productivity and increase grain output. We should strengthen the development of the food markets infrastructure, put in place a modern grain logistics system, and reduce post-harvest losses along the entire food supply chain including storage, transportation and consumption. We should increase investment in the research and development of agricultural production and related technologies, disseminate and apply new technologies, enhance comprehensive agricultural production capacity and ensure food safety and quality. We should stabilize the prices of grain and other commodities, prevent excessive speculation and profiteering, and improve the agricultural investment environment. We should pay great attention to the need of vulnerable groups and take concrete measures to ensure their access to food.

Third, we should break bottlenecks and establish reliable supply chains. Building reliable supply chains in the Asia Pacific is of special significance to raising the level of trade facilitation, developing a closely connected regional economy and enhancing the competitiveness of the region. We need to continue to scale up investment in infrastructure, enhance connectivity and network building in the region and make supply chains smarter. We need to further facilitate customs clearance and reduce the time and cost of commodity flow. We need to strengthen experience sharing and capacity building and enhance risk management and disaster resilience of supply chains in the region. We need to create a sound policy environment and encourage the business community to get actively involved in the development of supply chains.

Fourth, we should open our mind and intensify cooperation to foster innovative growth. Innovation is an important pillar underpinning the efforts of APEC members to shift the growth model and improve the quality of economic development. We need to foster an innovation-friendly environment, strengthen policies in support of scientific and technological innovation and bring into full play the innovation enthusiasm and creativity of whole society, particularly scientists and engineers. We need to increase investment in research and development, enhance the training and mobility of innovative and high-skilled personnel, give human and technological support to economic development, and translate scientific achievements into real productivity. We need to encourage the government to set up platforms for businesses to cooperate in innovation, and we need to strengthen cooperation on technology dissemination and increase technology transfer so as to enhance the capacity of all members in innovative growth and actively deliver the benefits of scientific achievements to different countries and regions.

APEC came into being more than 20 years ago, going along with the historical trend of Asia-Pacific countries seeking to grow their economies, improve people's lives and promote common prosperity and progress in the region. Today, APEC has grown into an important force in improving the global economic governance mechanism and promoting dynamic cooperation in the region. We should take stock of the hard-won achievements and valuable experience of APEC in a timely manner, boost confidence, strive for new progress and reach new heights in economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Throughout its cooperation process in the past 20 or so years, APEC has fully respected the diverse and inter-dependent nature of the region. It has acted in a spirit of unity and perseverance and adopted a flexible, pragmatic and consensus-based approach. APEC has followed the principle of respecting differences and pursuing mutual benefit in carrying out cooperation, and called for open and inclusive cooperation on the basis of seeking common ground while reserving differences. APEC respects differences among its members, accommodates the comfort level of individual members, properly handles disagreements and promotes regional economic integration at various levels, in different areas and through multiple channels. Through gradual exploration, it has found an effective way to deepen economic cooperation and trade among members different in national circumstances, development stage and cultural background and put in place a fairly complete organizational structure and a reform mechanism capable of self-repair. All this has provided strong institutional guarantee for APEC members' in-depth participation in Asia-Pacific economic cooperation. In light of the needs of its members for both present and long-term development, APEC has deepened and expanded its cooperation, taken new steps in such areas as trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, regional economic integration, economic and technical cooperation and economic growth strategies, and opened up broad space for its members to tackle major international economic issues. These achievements are attributable to the collective wisdom of all members and they represent APEC's valuable contribution to regional economic cooperation and global economic governance.

After over 20 years of development, APEC members enjoy more open markets, a more solid basis for economic growth and greater development potential. At the same time, economic growth is uneven among APEC members, regional economic cooperation is yet to expand in breadth and depth and achieving common development and progress remains a daunting task. Looking ahead, APEC still has a long way to go. We should respect and make good use of the diversity and high degree of complementarities of APEC members, continue to tap into the space and potential for development and work tirelessly for mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win progress in the Asia-Pacific region.

China places high importance on the role of APEC and has actively participated in its cooperation in various fields and at different levels. In the past decade, China hosted several hundred APEC meetings and events, including the fifth APEC Human Resource Development Ministerial Meeting and the first APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry. It has led APEC cooperation in areas such as telecommunication, mining and agricultural science and technology. It has established special cooperation mechanisms in such areas as finance, ports, forestry, human resources and ocean affairs. It has sponsored the establishment of the China-APEC Science and Technology Industry Cooperation Fund and the China-APEC Cooperation Fund and contributed to the financing of APEC projects. Through these efforts, China has made positive contribution to the growth of APEC.

I wish to announce that, to advance the development of APEC and deepen economic cooperation in this region, China would like to host the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in 2014 and its related meetings. China wishes to take this as an opportunity to deepen cooperation with other APEC members and make fresh and even greater contribution to the development, prosperity and people's well-being in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The Asia-Pacific region is our common home and its sound development is the shared aspiration of all members. I am confident that, as long as we continue to follow a win-win approach in our cooperation and aim for common development, the Asia-Pacific region will enjoy an even brighter future.