BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing on Saturday morning after attending the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and the 19th G20 Summit and paying state visits to Peru and Brazil, which was hailed as a journey of friendship, unity and cooperation with pioneering significance by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when briefing the accompanying journalists at the end of the trip.
During the 11-day trip from November 13 to 23, 2024, President Xi attended nearly 40 bilateral and multilateral events. More than 60 cooperation documents were reached. It not only promoted the healthy and stable development of major-country relations, but also led the Global South to unite and strengthen itself, Wang said.
The trip also enriched new practices of building a community with a shared future for mankind and broke new ground in major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, Wang noted.
Over the past 35 years, APEC has fueled rapid regional development, establishing the Asia-Pacific as the most dynamic sector for the global economy, Wang said.
President Xi attended the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on November 16 in Lima, Peru, and proposed upholding a universally beneficial, inclusive vision for Asia-Pacific development.
With the joint efforts of all parties, a new document was adopted to guide the process of building a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific region at the meeting, which gives new impetus to our efforts toward an open Asia-Pacific economy, Wang said.
China has always been an active promoter and leader of Asia-Pacific regional cooperation. China will continue to join hands with regional partners, adhere to true multilateralism and open regionalism, and jointly usher in another 30 golden years of development for the region, Wang said.
In the face of global changes of the century, the Global South is growing with a strong momentum while the global governance system lags behind changes taking place in the international balance of power. Issues like a widening North-South gap, digital divide have not been effectively addressed.
The 19th G20 Summit this year has chosen the theme “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet,” and decides to establish a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which reflects the Global South’s desire to achieve development and prosperity and the pursuit of modernization, Wang said.
China’s successful experience in poverty alleviation has been noted by President Xi at the meeting based on his personal experience, pointing out that China’s story is proof that developing countries can eliminate poverty, when there is the endurance, perseverance and striving spirit. If China can make it, other developing countries can make it too. This is what China’s battle against poverty says to the world.
President Xi stressed at the meeting that China will always be a member of the Global South, a doer and go-getter working for the cause of global development. China will go hand in hand with countries from the Global South to push forward the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction, Wang noted.
