Inclusive growth boosts Asia-Pacific economic integration

The 23rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (APEC) will be held in Manila of the Philippines from November 18 to 19 with the theme of "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World".

"In recent years, 'Inclusive Economies' has covere the focused topics in the annual APEC meetings. Promoting regional economic integration and establishing the Asia-Pacific free trade area are the top issues for 2015. Being the host of the previous meeting and major economy in the Asia-Pacific region, each cooperation initiatives put forward by China will be concerned. " said Liu Chenyang, director of APEC Study Center in Nankai University.

Coincidentally, the word "inclusive" appears in the themes of the 10th G20 summit and the 23rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

"'Inclusive' is a key element of building the concept of Asia-Pacific partnership, which relates to the diversity of economic development model, the universality of participants and the coordination of economic and social development in many aspects. Inclusive is not only the prerequisite for cooperation and common development, but also the guarantee of equal partnership, " Liu Chenyang said.

Last year marks the 25th anniversary of the APEC. During the meeting held in Beijing, many important documents such as "Roadmap for promoting the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) process " had been endorsed, which specified the vision and pathway of the future economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

"'Inclusive growth' can better consider the interests of the relevant countries, is the important method and guarantee to implement all the documents endorsed," Liu Chenyang said.

"Promote regional economic integration needs to balance the interests of all parties, meet the demands of the developed and developing economies, formulate the framework and mechanism of inclusive cooperation, " Liu Chenyang said.

"Currently, there are more than 200 trade arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region, with different standards and preferential policies and rules of origins, which may lead to vicious competition among trade groups and not conducive to deepening economic and trade cooperation between the countries," said Liu Chenyang, adding that Asia-Pacific economic cooperation still has much room for development. Further trade facilitation in the Asia-Pacific region, higher-level and larger free trade area will resolve the issue of regional trade agreements fragmentation and inject new vitality into the development of regional economy.

During the APEC summit held in Beijing last year, the economies agreed to start a joint strategic study on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), marking the official launch of the FTAAP process. At present, progress has been made in APEC roadmap on FTAAP and the joint strategic study is expected to complete by the end of 2016.

According to Liu Chenyang, the FTAAP is the important path to realize "inclusive growth", adding that it's not easy to reach the agreement, and all parties should take an inclusive attitude in the process.

China is the world's second largest economy and the important economic and trade partners of APEC members. The countries hope to understand China's economy, and listen to China's initiative and perspective on boosting regional cooperation and trade facilitation.