Written speech by President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China at the APEC Business Leaders Summit November 16, 2023, San Francisco Working together to meet challenges Dear business representatives, Ladies and gentlemen, friends:  I am very pleased to be invited to attend the APEC Business Leaders Summit. I visited San Francisco many years ago and was deeply impressed by the openness, tolerance and innovation of this beautiful city.  Thirty years ago, faced with the question of "where will mankind go" after the end of the Cold War, the leaders of the Asia-Pacific region followed the trend of the times for peace and development and held the first APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting. At the meeting, it was unanimously agreed to transcend the old thinking of group confrontation and zero-sum game, deepen regional economic cooperation and integration, and commit to building a dynamic, harmonious, and prosperous Asia-Pacific family. This major decision has pushed the development and economic globalization of the Asia-Pacific into the fast lane, helping the Asia-Pacific become the center of world economic growth, the anchor of global development and stability, and a highland for cooperation. The extraordinary journey of Asia-Pacific cooperation has given us many profound revelations.  Openness and inclusiveness are the main theme of Asia-Pacific cooperation. The development of the Asia-Pacific relies on openness and inclusiveness, learning from each other's strengths, and mutual exchange of needs, rather than confrontation, beggar-thy-neighbor, and "small courtyards with high walls." We uphold open regionalism, jointly formulated the Bogor Goals and Putrajaya Vision, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and enhance the level of regional economic integration. In the past 30 years, the average tariff level in the Asia-Pacific region has dropped from 17% to 5%, contributing 70% to world economic growth.  Common development is the overall goal of Asia-Pacific cooperation. Development is the eternal theme in the Asia-Pacific region. We have always focused on development, continuously deepened economic and technological cooperation, and enhanced the independent development capabilities of developing members. We have jointly created the "APEC Way" that is independent, voluntary, consensus-based and step-by-step, and respects the development rights of all members. In the past 30 years, per capita income in the Asia-Pacific region has more than quadrupled, and one billion people have been successfully lifted out of poverty, making important contributions to human progress and global sustainable development.  Seeking common ground while reserving differences is a good practice for Asia-Pacific cooperation. Economies in the Asia-Pacific region have different histories, cultures, and development stages. To promote cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, we cannot require uniformity and can only pursue common ground while reserving differences. Over the past 30 years, we have properly responded to major challenges such as the Asian financial crisis and the international financial crisis, and maintained the good momentum of economic development in the Asia-Pacific. We have relied on seeking the general trend and taking the overall situation into consideration, promoting the spirit of partnership in harmony but diversity, and working together with one heart and another, and constantly bringing together diverse members Sexuality is transformed into a driving force for cooperation, complementing each other's advantages and making progress together.  Ladies and gentlemen, friends!  The world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. The world economic growth momentum is insufficient, and instability, uncertainty, and unpredictable factors are increasing. Where Asia-Pacific cooperation will go in the next 30 years has become a question of the new era we are facing. "Everything is born when it is in its proper place, and everything becomes successful when it is in its proper way." We must uphold the original intention of APEC, keep in mind the mission entrusted to us by history, and promote Asia-Pacific cooperation to start again.  San Francisco is the place where the United Nations Charter was signed, embodying the good wishes of people of all countries for world peace. Peace is hard-won, but development has a long way to go. We must jointly uphold the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, adhere to the way of country-to-country interaction of dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliance, and maintain prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific. The Asia-Pacific cannot and should not be reduced to a battlefield of geopolitical games, let alone engage in a "new cold war" and camp confrontation.  The history of prosperity and development in the Asia-Pacific shows that only cooperation can lead to development. Non-cooperation is the biggest risk, and "decoupling and breaking links" does no good to anyone. We must adhere to open regionalism, unswervingly advance the process of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area, respect economic laws, give full play to our respective comparative advantages, promote economic interconnection and integration among countries, strengthen the connection between relevant regional economic and trade agreements and development strategies, and create an open and win-win cooperation Asia Pacific Economy.  Facing a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, we must take a long-term view, seize opportunities, and ride on the momentum to promote digital, intelligent, and green transformation and development, jointly strengthen technological innovation and achievement transformation, and promote the depth of the digital economy and the real economy. Fusion. We must work together to improve global science and technology governance, strengthen the support of scientific and technological innovation for green digital transformation and sustainable development, and create an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory science and technology development environment.  Ten years ago, I proposed the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. The Putrajaya Vision formulated by APEC clearly proposes the establishment of an Asia-Pacific community by 2040, pointing out the direction for Asia-Pacific cooperation. In recent years, in response to urgent global needs, I have proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, aiming to promote all parties to work together to respond to various global challenges, promote common global development, and enhance the well-being of all mankind. China is willing to work with all parties in the Asia-Pacific to promote the implementation of these initiatives and jointly build a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanness and beauty.  Ladies and gentlemen, friends!  Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has continued to rebound and improve, with growth rates leading among the world's major economies and high-quality development making solid progress. China remains the world's largest growth engine and will contribute one-third of global economic growth this year. As friends from the business community have said, China has become synonymous with the best investment destination. The next "China" will still be China. Friends from the business community from all over the world are welcome to continue to invest in China and deepen their cultivation in China!  China has the institutional advantages of a socialist market economy, the demand advantages of a very large-scale market, the supply advantages of a complete industrial system, and the talent advantages of a large number of high-quality workers and entrepreneurs. China has strong endogenous driving force, resilience, and potential for economic development. In the past, China has made historic achievements while constantly overcoming risks and challenges. Now, China's economy is highly resilient, has sufficient potential, and has broad room for maneuver. Its long-term positive fundamentals have not changed and will not change. We are confident and more capable of achieving long-term and stable development, and continue to bring new impetus and new opportunities to the world with China's new development.  China has thoroughly implemented the new development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, and unswervingly promoted high-quality development. The economic growth has a higher gold content and a stronger green quality. In recent years, China's exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products have grown rapidly, and the upcoming national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market will create huge green market opportunities. We will accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, provide better institutional guarantees for all types of business entities to share development results, continue to cultivate new growth momentum, and release greater development space.  We insist on opening the door for construction, unswervingly promote high-level opening up to the outside world, further expand market access, and have announced the complete lifting of restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector. The sixth China International Import Expo was successfully held recently, and the second Global Digital Trade Expo will be held later this month to further expand opening up and share development opportunities and dividends with other countries. China is implementing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with high quality, actively aligning the high-standard economic and trade rules of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, actively promoting the process of joining the two agreements, and expanding its global exposure high-standard free trade zone network. This year marks the 10th anniversary of my proposing the Belt and Road Initiative. Last month, China successfully held the third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, resulting in 458 results. Chinese financial institutions established a 780 billion yuan "One Belt, One Road" project financing window, and Chinese and foreign companies reached US$97.2 billion in business deals. The cooperation agreement will promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and inject strong impetus into global connectivity and promote development and prosperity.  No matter how the international situation changes, China's determination to create a market-oriented, legal and international business environment will not change, and its policy of providing high-quality services to foreign investors without discrimination will not change. We will continue to improve the protection mechanism for foreign investment rights and interests, further reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, comprehensively guarantee the national treatment of foreign-invested enterprises, and continue to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights. We will work hard to break down barriers that restrict the flow of innovation factors, deepen reforms in the digital economy, and promote the orderly and free flow of data in accordance with the law. At the same time, we will launch more "heart-warming" measures, optimize the policies for foreigners coming to China, staying and staying in China, and strive to clear up the barriers for people to use financial, medical, Internet payment and other services in China, and provide more opportunities for foreign business friends to invest and establish businesses in China. Good protection. I would like to emphasize that the Chinese economy has overcome challenges, moved forward steadily, and achieved high-quality development, which is also an inevitable requirement for promoting Chinese-style modernization. The starting point and goal of Chinese-style modernization is to enable the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to live a better life. For the world, this means a broader market and unprecedented cooperation opportunities, and will also inject powerful impetus into world modernization.  Ladies and gentlemen, friends!  The Asia-Pacific business community has always been a trendsetter in Asia-Pacific cooperation and global development. I hope that everyone will carry forward the innovative spirit of "dare to be the first in the world" and make greater contributions to building an open Asia-Pacific economy and assisting the development of the world economy. We welcome the global business community to actively participate in the Chinese-style modernization process and share the huge opportunities brought by China's high-quality development!  Thank you all.