Economic growth on APEC agenda

CGTN Europe

Thousands have descended on Lima for the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. With economies worth $50 trillion, the countries involved make up 60% of global GDP.

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00:00Thousands of people are descending upon the Peruvian capital for this important event

00:06which will see 21 member economies from across the Asia-Pacific region come together and these

00:14economies represent more than 60 percent of global GDP and more than 50 trillion dollars in total

00:23and it's an event which will bring together the public and the private sectors. Today, Monday,

00:28we are seeing things kicking off slowly as the APEC leaders themselves from the organization

00:36meet and talk delegations through exactly what we're going to be expecting this week but then

00:42there are going to be three main events which we'll see this week. There's going to be the

00:46ministers meeting which is going to see these economies top officials come together to seek

00:53further cooperation. How can this enormous trade region around the world's largest ocean

01:00increase its economic collaboration as well as development? How do we get Chinese EV and green

01:08energy technology into Latin America for example? These are all topics which are going to be on the

01:14agenda at APEC. As you rightly mentioned, more than 400 Chinese private enterprises are going

01:20to be here and that's where the main event for them is going to be the CEO Summit which is going

01:27to see in total more than 1,200 private enterprises from across the Pacific region. You're going to

01:34have from New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan, the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru, all

01:42private enterprises meeting here to look at how can trade grow in this region? How can we work

01:49together to collaborate more closely? Then the event this week will be culminating in the

01:54leaders meeting. As you rightly mentioned, President Xi Jinping will be here, US President

02:01Joe Biden will be here as well as other leaders from these 21 economies to cap off what is going

02:07to be a very important and hopefully very productive week for an enormously large

02:15economic area with great potential for the future.

02:19Alistair, what will China be hoping to get out of this meeting?

02:27Well, of course, President Xi Jinping will be here at APEC and China, of course, well it's

02:34APEC, it's the acronym for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. So that's exactly what

02:40China wants. China wants greater trade within this region, greater economic cooperation and

02:46one of the stated goals indeed of APEC since its inception in the late 1980s and early 1990s has

02:52been the free trade around the Pacific. What is currently the closest thing that we have in this

03:00region at the moment is the CPTPP, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific

03:07Partnership. Well, that's something which links a number of countries, Australia and Mexico, for

03:12example, a part of this free trade agreement. But China wants to see further free trade throughout

03:18this region because that's what is going to ultimately bring the economic and development

03:24benefits to this region. And one of the main things which is certainly no coincidence that

03:30APEC is happening in Peru this year because China's Belt and Road is about to inaugurate

03:36an enormous piece of infrastructure. This Thursday we will see the Chiang Kai Port, a 3.5 billion

03:44dollar smart port project which is being built on Peru's Pacific by China's Belt and Road initiative

03:51and it's going to be inaugurated by President Xi Jinping this Thursday and it's going to be

03:56a piece of infrastructure which is going to completely alter the face of trade within the

04:03South American continent. It's a smart port with the ability, the first of its kind in South America,

04:09to be able to receive mega freighters, 18,000 container boats which are going to be coming into

04:18South America and changing the face of trade within this entire continent. So,

04:23a lot to see this week and China with a lot to say.

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