President to attend APEC meeting, pay state visit to ROK

President Xi Jinping will attend the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea, and pay a state visit to the country next week, the Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.

Noting that APEC is the most important economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Xi's attendance at the meeting "demonstrates the high importance China attaches to regional economic cooperation".

According to Guo, during the three-day trip starting from Thursday, Xi will deliver a speech at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and hold bilateral talks with leaders of relevant countries.

"China stands ready to work with all parties to promote Asia-Pacific cooperation, contribute to regional economic growth and jointly build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future," Guo told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Founded in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation serves as a key platform for promoting free trade, economic cooperation and sustainable growth among its 21 member economies, which together account for nearly 60 percent of global GDP and almost half of global trade.

On China-ROK relations, Guo said that China and the ROK are close neighbors and cooperative partners, emphasizing that China's policy toward the ROK remains consistent and stable.

"This visit marks President Xi's first state visit to the ROK in 11 years and the first meeting between the two heads of state since ROK President Lee Jae-myung took office," Guo said.

"China is ready to work with the ROK to stay true to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic ties, uphold good-neighborliness and mutual benefit, and advance the China-ROK strategic cooperative partnership," the spokesman said.

According to Xiang Haoyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, Xi's visit will mark the "restart and upgrade" of the highest-level exchanges between the two countries.

"It will inject strong political momentum into the China-ROK relationship, which has faced challenges in recent years, help enhance its stability and resilience amid a complex international landscape, and contribute to peace and stability in Northeast Asia," Xiang said.

"By reaffirming and expanding consensus in areas such as trade, the economy and people-to-people exchanges, both sides can lay a solid foundation for rebuilding mutual political and security trust," he added.