From China to Peru

China’s development will bring more new opportunities for the development of the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world as it deepens reform and opening up, develops new quality productive forces, and advances its modernization. And with Donald Trump going to take charge of the White House in January as the 47th American president, China is ready to engage in dialogue, expand cooperation, and manage differences with the United States to sustain the hard-won momentum toward stability in China-U.S. relations. 

This was the much-awaited message from President Xi Jinping in Lima, Peru, where he attended the 31st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

An Asia-Pacific miracle

“Over the decades, APEC has been instrumental in leading Asia and the Pacific to great success in development, prosperity, and connectivity, making the region the most dynamic economy and primary engine of global economic growth,” Xi said at the APEC meeting on November 16.

Founded in 1989, APEC is a major engine of global economic growth, with its 21 members accounting for approximately 40 percent of the world’s population, nearly half of global trade, and around 60 percent of global GDP. Xi had acknowledged APEC’s role at the 30th APEC summit in San Francisco, U.S., saying, “APEC has always stood at the global forefront of openness and development. It has played a robust role in promoting Asia-Pacific trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, economic growth and technological progress, and the flow of goods and people. It has helped create the ‘Asia-Pacific miracle’ that has staggered the world.”

China joined APEC in 1991 and today, is the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies, contributing 64.2 percent to economic growth in the Asia-Pacific, 37.6 percent of the region’s goods trade growth, and 44.6 percent of its service trade growth.

In addition, according to the General Administration of Customs, China’s trade with other APEC economies reached a record high of RMB 21.27 trillion in the first 10 months of 2024, up 2.7 percent compared with the same period last year. It accounted for 59.1 percent of China’s total trade.

Xi used the sweet potato as a metaphor to describe China’s relationship with the Asia-Pacific: “Though the vines of the sweet potato spread in all directions, they all grow out of their roots. Similarly, no matter how far it develops, China will remain rooted in the Asia-Pacific, contribute to the Asia-Pacific, and benefit the Asia-Pacific.”

Kasemsit Pathomsak, a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council, told Xinhua that China’s development creates opportunities for the world: “It has actively promoted the building of an open global economy and strengthened economic and trade cooperation with other countries. It will play a key role in further advancing regional economic integration.”

Open cooperation

Xi has repeatedly pledged China’s commitment to APEC’s development. “The Asia-Pacific is a big family, and China is a member of this family,” he said at the APEC CEO Summit in Bali, Indonesia, in 2013. “China’s development is inseparable from the Asia-Pacific, and the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific is also inseparable from China. China’s continued healthy economic development will bring greater opportunities for the growth of the Asia-Pacific region.”

At this year’s APEC CEO Summit on November 16, he repeated that China’s development is inseparable from the Asia-Pacific and will benefit the region and called for solidarity and cooperation to tackle global challenges. “As long as we uphold the spirit of openness and connectivity, the Pacific can become a pathway to prosperity and growth,” he said.

While pursuing high-quality development, China has shared its development opportunities and sought mutually beneficial cooperation with APEC members, with tangible results. One example is the Chancay Port, located about 80 kilometers from Lima on its Pacific coast. The deepwater port is a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative. Constructed by Chinese enterprise COSCO Shipping, it is the first smart and green port in South America.

The first phase of the port started in 2021. When completed, it is expected to almost halve shipping time from Peru to China from 40 to 23 days, cutting logistics costs by at least 20 percent. It’s also estimated to generate US $4.5 billion in yearly revenue for Peru and create over 8,000 direct jobs.

When Peru’s President Dina Boluarte visited China in June, Xi discussed timely completion of the port with her, saying establishing it as a new land-sea route between China and Latin America will make the “Chancay to Shanghai route a true path of prosperity, promoting the common development of China and Peru.”

The port was inaugurated by Xi and Boluarte online on November 14, with Xi reiterating that it will consolidate Peru’s position as a gateway connecting land and sea, Asia and Latin America. China is ready to work with Peru to build a new land-sea corridor between China and Latin America with the Chancay Port as the starting point, he said.

Eduardo Salhuana, President of Peru’s Congress, told Xinhua that the Chancay Port is a real case of how China promotes the development of other countries while developing itself. “The Chinese-funded port will shorten direct shipping time from Peru to Asia. This will further boost trade between Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and other Latin American countries with China and other Asian countries, creating tremendous market opportunities for Latin America’s agriculture, mining, and manufacturing industries, and energizing the region’s economic vitality,” he said.

Salhuana added that the project is not just about trade. “China’s investment has also brought advanced technologies. The modern, green, low-carbon smart port will operate in an intelligent and efficient manner, creating more job opportunities for locals and bringing tangible benefits to the Peruvian people,” he said. “Peru will embrace a better phase of development.”

China’s U.S. policy unchanged

Perhaps the most globally anticipated moment at this year’s APEC summit was the meeting between Xi and outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden, who will hand over the reins of power to President-elect Donald Trump in January 2025. It was the first time they met in person following last year’s APEC summit in San Francisco. China-U.S. relations, described as the most important bilateral relationship in the world, are critical to global development, and the two leaders’ talks gave an indication of where it is headed.

Xi said China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged, as well as its commitment to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as principles for handling the relations. Its position of safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests remains unchanged; so does its desire to carry forward the traditional friendship between the Chinese and American peoples. China is ready to engage in dialogue, expand cooperation, and manage differences with the United States to sustain the hard-won momentum toward stability in their relations.

Xi also paid a tribute to Biden, saying “China-U.S. relations over the past four years have gone through ups and downs, but under the joint stewardship of the two presidents, the two sides have also been engaged in fruitful dialogue and cooperation, and their relationship has remained stable on the whole.” He then stressed the importance of the U.S. and  China treating each other as equals: “As two major countries, neither China nor the United States should seek to remodel the other according to one’s own will, suppress the other from the so-called ‘position of strength,’ or deprive the other of the legitimate right to development so as to maintain its leading status.”

It was important not to challenge red lines and paramount principles. Contradictions and differences between two major countries like China and the United States are unavoidable but the core interests of each other should not be undermined, or conflict or confrontation chosen. The one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques are the political foundation of China-U.S. relations and they must be observed, Xi said. “The Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China’s path and system, and China’s development rights are four red lines for China. They must not be challenged. These are the most important guardrails and safety nets for China-U.S. relations.”

He also emphasized that “neither decoupling nor supply-chain disruption is the solution; only mutually beneficial cooperation can lead to common development,” adding that “small yard, high fences” is not what a major country should pursue; only openness and sharing can advance the well-being of humanity. For that, more dialogue and cooperation is needed. With common interests between China and the United States expanding, their cooperation is crucial not only for the economy, trade, agriculture, counternarcotics, law enforcement and public health, but also for handling global challenges of climate change and artificial intelligence as well as international issues. The two sides should expand the list of cooperation and make a bigger pie of cooperation for win-win results.

Xi also met other leaders in the region, stressing China’s commitment to free trade and opposing protectionism. For example, he told Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, “As China’s and Japan’s economic interests and production and supply chains are deeply integrated, both sides should adhere to mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, safeguard the global free trade system as well as stable and smooth production and supply chains.”

As APEC members work toward the blueprint drawn in Malaysia in 2020, the Putrajaya Vision 2040 to build an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community, China will play its unique role by promoting mutually beneficial cooperation and rejecting trade protectionism, contributing to an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.