China’s Xi calls for safeguarding multilateral trading system at APEC summit

ANKARA

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies for collective efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system and promote inclusive globalization.

Speaking at the APEC summit in the South Korean coastal city of Gyeongju, President Xi said that currently, changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent.

“We must practice true multilateralism, and enhance the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core,” Xi said, according to a transcript issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Xi outlined five proposals, including building an open regional economy, stabilizing supply chains, promoting digital and green transformation in trade, and ensuring inclusive development.

The Chinese leader also reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to further opening its markets, noting that China has remained the world’s largest trader in goods for five consecutive years.

“China’s door to the world will not close; it will only open wider,” Xi said.

He added that Beijing is always pursuing the basic state policy of opening up and has taken real steps to promote an open world economy.

“It has attracted more than US$700 billion in foreign investment in total, and its outbound investment has been increasing by over five percent on an annual average,” he said.

President Xi arrived in South Korea on Thursday on his three-day visit to attend the APEC summit, which is his first trip to the country in 11 years.

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