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Interview: China to play key role at APEC meeting, says Peruvian official

Xinhua, October 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

China will have a key role to play at a meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), said a Peruvian official, whose country is hosting the 2016 APEC Economic Leaders' Week on Nov. 14-20.

"China is going to have an important role, and is going to continue to have an increasingly important role," Julio Chan Sanchez, coordinator general of the meeting, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

As one of the world's leading economies, China's decisions necessarily impact not just the 21-member group, but the entire globe, said Chan of Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism.

"China's economy is progressively larger, more important and more relevant for the rest of the world, for international trade and for the global economic system," he said.

As such, China's participation serves to strengthen the forum, he added.

At the 2014 meeting held in Beijing, China played an essential role in furthering the goal of creating a free-trade zone in the Asia-Pacific region, said Chan.

A study of APEC's impact on Pacific Rim nations, commissioned by the member economies, is expected to be approved at the November gathering and published later this year, according to Chan.

"China is contributing quite a lot with a series of measures to improve capacities, and while they mainly aim to strengthen the public sector, they also sometimes extend to private sector officials," providing training in relevant areas, said Chan.

Last year, China organized a two-week seminar on value-added statistics gathering, and Peru sent three officials "to begin to understand how to develop this type of statistics and how to compile this type of data," said Chan.

"That is an example China is setting," said Chan, adding "it leads through a series of actions and proposals that help us a lot with training."

"I am certain this November will see very interesting results from the talks the two presidents have had in Beijing," said Chan.

"The four Pacific Alliance countries (Peru, Chile, Colombia and Mexico) are also interested in projecting themselves to the world, especially to the Asia-Pacific (region), and have already taken the initial steps," said Chan, referring to last year's meeting in the Philippines, where the alliance held an informal meeting with APC leaders.

"A similar meeting is likely to take place in Lima, and we assume there will be synergy between the two blocs," said Chan.

APEC's member economies see the alliance, the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) -- a proposed free-trade agreement between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- as potential models of economic integration, said Chan.

The November meeting marks the second time Peru's capital hosts the APEC meeting, which this year will focus on regional economic integration; strengthening micro, small and medium-size businesses; food security; and developing human capital. Endit