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Strengthen Cooperation and Meet New
Challenges Together
in The New Century
Shanghai, China, October 2, 2001
Chinese President Jiang Zemin delivered a speech at the Ninth
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders
Meeting Sunday morning. Following is the full text of Jiang's
speech, which is entitled "Strengthen Cooperation and Meet
New Challenges Together in The New Century."
Dear Colleagues,
I am very pleased to be with you all in Shanghai in this golden
season of autumn to discuss economic cooperation in the Asia-
Pacific region. On behalf of the Chinese Government and people
and in my own name, I would like to extend a warm welcome
to all of you.
We, the APEC economic leaders, have a
historical mission to fulfill: We must adopt a forward-looking
approach and formulate, through discussion, a common development
strategy that is responsive to the development requirements
of the new century in the interest of promoting growth and
prosperity in the Asia- Pacific.
At the first APEC Economic Leaders Meeting
in 1993, I said that what kind of world was to be brought
into the 21st century was a crucial issue that we leaders
of this generation must carefully think about and address.
Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we have found
the world situation and that of the Asia- Pacific both encouraging
and worrying.
On the one hand, peace and development
remain the theme of our times. Economic globalization is developing
in depth. Science and technology are advancing with each passing
day and high-tech industries are booming. All this has offered
us new opportunities for achieving national economic growth
and improving our peoples' lives.
On the other hand, development is uneven
in the Asia-Pacific and throughout the world. The gap between
the rich and the poor still exists. The "digital divide" is
widening. Since early this year, some major economies in our
region have witnessed a sluggish demand and a slow-down in
their growth, which has affected trade and financial stability.
The September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, in
particular, have produced serious consequences.
All in all, there are both challenges
and opportunities ahead. We should work together, take actions,
seize opportunities, and rise to the challenges so as to promote
greater economic growth of our region in the new century.
This is a major responsibility for us leaders of the region.
To strengthen cooperation so that all APEC member economies
may benefit from economic globalization and scientific and
technological progress should be an objective for APEC to
strive for. How to take concrete and effective measures to
bolster confidence and realize recovery and growth -- this
is a pressing issue for this Meeting to address.
The Asia-Pacific region, in the long run,
will remain economically the most dynamic part of the world.
It will surely usher in a new phase of development if all
the countries and regions pull together in times of trouble
to overcome difficulties. It is in the common interests of
APEC that all its member economies enhance coordination in
macro policies, deepen economic restructuring, stabilize financial
markets and create a sound overall environment for economic
recovery and sustainable development. Developed members are
the major beneficiaries of economic globalization and an important
force for worldwide economic growth. Therefore, they should
lose no time in adopting further measures to restore market
confidence, expand demand and promote an early recovery and
development of the regional and global economy. They also
have the obligation to help lift developing members out of
the current difficulties at an early date, which will in turn
facilitate their own sustainable development.
APEC must give firm support to the multilateral
trading system, strengthen Ecotech and try to attain the Bogor
Goals of realizing trade and investment liberalization before
2010 for developed members and 2020 for developing members.
Globalization will grow smoothly and the world economy develop
in a sustained and steady manner only when most members of
the international community can reap the benefit. The New
Economy will bring its potential to the full only when all
the members and all sectors of the society participate in
it.
To this end, enhancing Ecotech with emphasis
on human capacity building and promoting a coordinated development
of Ecotech on the one hand and trade and investment liberalization
on the other will be an effective way. Human resources are
the most valuable. Human capacity building meets our long-term
as well as immediate needs. It has now become one of the core
areas of APEC cooperation, an area that members enjoy the
broadest consensus and the best foundation for closer cooperation.
We should translate the strategic choice into strategic action,
advancing it steadily and seeking practical results. Governments
of member economies must take up their responsibility. At
the same time, efforts should be made to mobilize the business
and academic communities and bring their enthusiasm and creativity
into full play.
Last May, China and Brunei jointly hosted
in Beijing the APEC High Level Meeting on Human Capacity Building.
The meeting adopted the Beijing Initiative, advocating a tripartite
partnership among governments, educational and academic circles
and business communities. It represents a useful effort not
only for human capacity building but also for Ecotech in wider
areas.
To implement the consensus of the Beijing
Meeting, the Chinese Government has, in cooperation with some
internationally well- known IT firms and educational institutions,
launched a follow-up project to the Beijing Initiative. The
three-faceted project includes the training of IT specialists,
dissemination of Internet knowledge and establishment of a
Human Capacity Building Forum. In the next three years, 1,500
high-level Internet specialists will be trained for APEC members
free of charge on its on-line training platform. In addition,
the Chinese Government will earmark US$2 million for the launch
of the "APEC Finance and Development Project" in Shanghai,
a project designed to train more financial professionals and
enhance APEC members' capacity for a sustainable economic
growth.
To meet challenges of the new century,
APEC should play a bigger role in promoting regional economic
growth and prosperity in light of the realities of the region
and the requirements of our times. As the top-level inter-governmental
forum for economic cooperation in this region, APEC has contributed
significantly to economic development in the Asia-Pacific
and the world at large. The APEC Approach, featuring such
principles as consensus and voluntarism, tallies with the
reality of diversity of the region and holds the key to the
success of its member economies through closer cooperation.
APEC must build on these successes and give a new dimension
to its intensified cooperation in the future.
-- APEC should always stand at the forefront
of regional and global economic development, adapt itself
to the latest economic situation and characteristics in the
region and the world and play an important guiding role in
addressing the acute economic problems therein.
-- APEC should take firmer steps toward
the Bogor Goals on the basis of respect for diversity and,
at the same time, help develop the multilateral trading system
in line with the principle of " open regionalism".
-- APEC should develop in a way that reflects
the broadest common interests of all its members and adopt
more effective cooperation modalities to narrow the gap between
its members so as to enhance their cohesion. This is the only
way for APEC to remain dynamic and attain the goal of common
prosperity for all its members.
I am confident that with the concerted
efforts of all its members, APEC will make ever greater achievements
through cooperation and participation.
China will, as always, commit itself to
reform, opening-up and modernization drive. China has entered
a new stage of development, a stage in which it is building
a well-to-do society throughout the country and speeding up
socialist modernization. We are implementing the Tenth Five-Year
Plan (2001-2005) for the National Economic and Social Development.
Guided by this plan, we will unswervingly focus on development
and carry out restructuring all the way through with reform,
opening up and advances in science and technology as the driving
force and the improvement of the people's living standards
as the fundamental objective. We will continue to promote
economic growth and social progress.
China will take a more active part in
regional and global economic and technical cooperation. Once
inside the WTO, China will strictly comply with the universally
acknowledged market rules, implement open, transparent and
equality-based policies of trade and investment and endeavor
to promote a multi-directional and multi-level opening-up
in a wide range of areas. A China that enjoys stability, growth
and progress will make even greater contribution to peace
and development in the region and the world at large.
Dear Colleagues,
APEC has pioneered an effective cooperation
modality that galvanizes growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific
region. It will continue to forge ahead, with its members
working in mutual trust and closer cooperation.
A peaceful and stable environment is indispensable
for sustained economic growth. Terrorism is a scourge that
undermines stability. It is therefore a common task for people
throughout the world to fight terrorism. Let us join hands
in creating a regional and international environment in which
people of all countries will enjoy success, peace and prosperity.
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