Symposium on post-2020 APEC vision held in Sanya

The International Symposium on APEC Post 2020 Vision and Asia Pacific Regional Integration concluded yesterday in Sanya, a tropical resort city in China's southernmost Hainan province, with a special focus on regional economic integration.

Jointly sponsored by the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, Hainan China Golden Eagle Peace Development Foundation and Nankai University APEC Study Center, the two-day event attracted more than 60 officials, businessmen and scholars from the Asia-Pacific region, including Su Ge, chair of CNCPEC and co-chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council , Donald Campbell, co-chair of PECC and chair of Canada's PECC, Lu Mei, a senior Chinese APEC official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Eduardo Pedrosa, secretary-general of PECC.

Su said in his welcome speech at the opening ceremony APEC has now come to a new historical crossroad, not only because the Bogor Goals are due by 2020, but also because drastic changes are taking place in global and regional economic landscapes which call for a new agenda to keep the momentum for growth and cooperation.

APEC leaders adopted the Bogor Goals in Indonesia in 1994, which stipulate developed economies will liberalize and facilitate trade and investment by 2010, and developing economies by 2020.

How APEC should develop after 2020 and what kind of vision plan it should have are related to the direction of economic cooperation in the whole Asia-Pacific region, and are the focus of attention and discussion among member economies, according to participants at the meeting.