APEC ministers' meeting seeks broadest common ground on economic, trade cooperation: MOC

NANJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The 2026 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting that concluded Saturday in China's Suzhou has actively sought the broadest common ground for all parties to participate in economic and trade cooperation, China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said.

Participants of the meeting, including representatives from 21 APEC economies, APEC observers, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held candid, in-depth and constructive discussions and achieved fruitful results, according to a press conference held by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Saturday.

The two-day meeting ended with an issuance of the 2026 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Joint Statement and the approval of the APEC Roadmap for Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Services.

Elaborating on the outcomes, Wang said the meeting reaffirmed strong support for the long-term vision of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, with parties committed to advancing regional economic integration.

The meeting also sent a joint message on advancing the WTO reform and drew up a blueprint for services sector development over the next decade, Wang noted.

Other achievements included a new consensus on expanding digital trade cooperation, with substantive progress made on a framework document for regional digital trade cooperation, and actively exploring new measures for green trade development.

"Given the challenging international circumstances, these outcomes are hard-won," Wang said, adding that China will continue to work with other economies to implement the important consensus reached at this meeting, facilitate further outcomes and consensus, and make positive contributions to the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later this year.

As an important institutional meeting customarily held midway through the APEC host year, the trade ministers' meeting is tasked with contributing outcomes to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and serves as a barometer of economic and trade policy trends in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.