On May 22-23, MOFCOM hosted the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting (MRT) in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The meeting is a major event of the “APEC China Year”. Discussions focused on advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) agenda, supporting the WTO, strengthening digital cooperation, and developing green economy. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attended the meeting and delivered remarks. Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao presided over the meeting as Chair, and Li Chenggang, China International Trade Representative full minister rank and Vice Minister of Commerce, attended and made interventions on behalf of the Chinese side. Ministers or representatives from APEC economies, APEC observers, and heads of international organizations including the WTO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) participated in the meeting. The meeting issued a joint statement (Suzhou Statement) and adopted the APEC Roadmap for Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Services, achieving fruitful outcomes.

All economies reaffirmed their support for the development of the FTAAP and committed to deepening experience sharing, capacity building and technical cooperation, enhancing the capacity of all parties to participate in high standard free trade agreements, fostering an open and predictable institutional environment for trade in services as well as investment, and advancing regional economic integration. They expressed support for WTO reform to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of the WTO in addressing global trade challenges and responding to members’ concerns. They supported a moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and pushed for the incorporstion of the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement and the Agreement on Electronic Commerce (ECA) into the WTO legal framework. They welcomed the substantial progress towards developing a framework for cooperation on trade digitalization, and committed to strengthening cooperation on paperless trade, cross-border e-commerce, and AI-related trade, facilitating cross-border recognition of electronic trade-related documents and the flow of data across borders. They also explored new initiatives for green trade development and continued to deepen cooperation on environmental services.

The Chinese side stated that as the once-in-a-century transformation accelerates, the only way for APEC economies to achieve shared prosperity and realize open, high-quality, balanced and secure development is to uphold the principles of mutual respect, trust and win-win cooperation. China believes that challenges should be met with cooperation, sending a strong signal that Asia-Pacific economies remain committed to mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Chinese side held that flexible approaches should be encouraged to sign more trade and economic arrangements to provide stronger support for the FTAAP agenda. Efforts should be made to build open and smooth regional industrial and supply chains, reduce “behind-the-border” barriers, and enhance digitalization. China supports the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, calls for earnest implementation of the consensus reached at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), and advocates for full and in-depth participation in WTO reform to enable the WTO to play a greater role in global economic governance. China also proposes exploring the development of digital trade rules, enhancing coordination of policies, technical standards and regulatory models, and creating a safe, convenient and efficient environment for development. China supports raising the level of green trade facilitation, promoting the coordinated green upgrading of industrial and supply chains, and encouraging the increase of “green elements” in free trade agreements.(Released on May 24)