[Global Times-Global Network correspondent to Gyeongju, South Korea, Xing Xiaojing, Wang Cong] The 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting will be held in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea from October 31st to November 1st. This is the second time that South Korea has served as the host of APEC after 20 years. In an interview with a reporter from the Global Times, a number of domestic and foreign scholars said that the conference was held under multiple backgrounds, the global economic and trade pattern has undergone profound evolution, and Asia-Pacific regional cooperation is facing new opportunities and challenges. Facing the complicated international situation, as one of the most important multilateral cooperation mechanisms in the world today, the valuable platform set up by APEC will still play an important role.
APEC returns to South Korea after 20 years and looks forward to strengthening cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region
The Global Times reporter recently saw when entering from Busan Kimhai International Airport, the airport had a large APEC advertising poster, a photo-card spot, a group of volunteers wearing ancient Korean national costumes welcomed at the exit and guided visitors. From Busan through Uzun, along the road to Qingzhou, the reporter noticed that the sign "Welcome to Qingzhou" was visible everywhere. Once entering Qingzhou, the APEC atmosphere was even stronger: on both sides of the street hanged APEC conference flags, the bus was printed with conference themed advertisements, and the exterior walls of various buildings were also placed with huge advertising posters.
From Busan in 2005 to Changzhou in 2025, APEC returned to South Korea 20 years later. The South Korean World Daily commented that this was of special significance in the present era. At the time of the APEC conference in Busan in 2005, the world was still in the era of optimism. The world today is in a turbulent period of conservationism, geopolitics and technological hegemony. Amid such changes, this year’s APEC conference “can become a free trade fortress” is being tested.
The article believes that South Korea is both a beneficiary of the open economy and should be a guardian of multilateralism, and once again clarifies the "free trade and cooperation principles" in Changzhou. The more the world moves towards camp, the more valuable the mechanism of APEC's open and inclusive.
"This meeting not only marks South Korea's return to the right track after a period of chaos, but also has far-reaching significance of returning to multilateral diplomacy and fully launching medium-power diplomacy." Huang Zaihao, president of Korea Institute of Global Strategic Cooperation and professor of Korea Foreign Studies University, said in an interview with the Global Times that South Korea has been one of the core member countries since the establishment of APEC. At a time when multilateral cooperation and free trade are being challenged, the Gyeongju Conference will become a key turning point for APEC's functional recovery and direction reset.
On the eve of the APEC meeting, U.S. President Trump visited Japan and held his first face-to-face meeting with Japan's new Prime Minister Saami Takichi. Yonhap said that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Trump will hold bilateral talks in Gyeongju City, Gyeongsangbuk Province on the afternoon of the 29th. This will be the second meeting in nearly two months after the South Korean and US heads of state held talks in Washington in August. South Korea's President's Office stated that this was the shortest interval between exchanges of visits between leaders of South Korea and the United States in history.
During the APEC meeting, the bilateral and multilateral interactions between China, China, South Korea, and South Korea and other countries were widely watched. Japan's "Korean News" that High-Speed Early Coach will visit South Korea from October 30 to November 1 to attend the informal meeting of the leaders of the Organization for Economic Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (APEC). The two governments are coordinating the first meeting of High-Speed Early Coach with Li Ming on October 30. Eric HARWIT, professor of Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, told the Global Times that if the Japan-Korean summit could be achieved, the two sides are expected to avoid history or territorial issues, focusing on economic and security cooperation.
"Another trend worth observing during the APEC meeting is that under the multilateral framework, the United States may be committed to strengthening relations with Japan and South Korea." Hao Zhongming also said that "the visit to Japan on the eve of the US president's meeting is intended to send a signal to the outside world that even if there is a bilateral trade dispute between the United States and Japan, the relationship between the two countries is still stable. In the ROK-US talks, Lee Jae-myung needs a clever balance-compared with his conservative predecessor, he is more open to improving relations with China, an important economic partner, but he also hopes to consolidate the security alliance with the United States."
President of the Korean-Chinese Federation and Professor of Chinese Studies at South Korea's Longjin University, Park Wei Zhang, said in an interview with the Global Times reporter that the current global geopolitical risks are intertwined, and South Korea expects to use the APEC conference to promote substantial progress in bilateral talks between China and the United States, China and South Korea and Japan, rather than just staying on a courteous meeting.
Park Seung-chan said that South Korea also hopes to enhance its influence in the Asia-Pacific region and strengthen its regional leadership by hosting this conference. In recent years, the role of the APEC mechanism has weakened, and the regional cooperation framework has faced challenges. South Korea looks forward to taking the Gyeongju Conference as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and lay the foundation for future regional development.
Paying attention to artificial intelligence governance and responding to demographic changes, APEC topic setting highlights "keeping pace with the times"
The theme of this APEC meeting is "Building a Sustainable Future: Connectivity, Innovation, Prosperity". According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean President Lee Jae-ming chaired the meeting as host. The meeting will be held in two sessions: the first session on October 31 will be themed "Towards a Closer and More Resilient World", focusing on ways to deepen trade and investment cooperation among members; November 1 The second session will be held around "drawing a development vision for the Asia-Pacific and adapting to future changes" to explore countermeasures to tap new growth drivers in the Asia-Pacific region in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) development and demographic changes.
Liu Zhang, director of the Asia-Pacific Economic and Economic Cooperation Research Center at Nanjing University and vice president of the China-Pacific Association, told the Global Times reporter that observing the derivation and expansion of APEC topics over the past 30 years shows that its topics can always keep up with the new trends in regional cooperation, reflecting the interest and interest appeals of the vast majority of members to participate in Asia-Pacific cooperation.
Liu Xiaoyang said that this year's set AI governance and response to demographic changes reflects this trend. Artificial intelligence belongs to the digital economy category, is a popular topic in recent years, behind which not only involves the technical level, but also covers political, economic and social and other comprehensive issues, this year is also the first time to become the main topic in the APEC conference. Although there has been discussion of population issues in the previous meeting, but never appeared as a separate issue. Korea and Japan and other countries have been very prominent in the issue of population aging, minorization, leading to its economic development facing this challenge, while some other economies may also face the same problems in different degrees, there is common between members, can be discussed.
"It is not difficult to see from this year's core topic setting that APEC can always find focus areas with room for cooperation among its members. In response to changes in the situation, it uses new topics to encourage members to maintain their enthusiasm for cooperation and inject new vitality and kinetic energy into regional development." Liu Chenyang said.
Peter Zhang, a researcher at the Malaysia-China Friendship Association and former deputy director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, said in an interview with the Global Times that one of the core priorities of this year's APEC meeting is to promote digital transformation, with a special emphasis on strengthening artificial intelligence governance. Peter Zhang believes that artificial intelligence is reshaping human society at an unprecedented rate, bringing both huge opportunities and major impacts. APEC is fully capable of playing a leading role in formulating general norms and standards to avoid these risks and ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Daniel Snyder, a lecturer in East Asian studies at Stanford University in the United States, told the Global Times reporter that APEC has built a valuable platform. Under the current situation, APEC can still play an important role: fighting xenophobia, isolationism, and protectionism. Spread, resist the "fragmentation" of the global system and the expansion of authoritarianism. He believes that one of APEC's most significant advantages is its broad and inclusive membership, while also attracting the participation of business and other non-governmental forces. Compared with other multilateral or small multilateral organizations, APEC covers a wide geographical area and can respond to various contemporary issues, especially in the non-security field.
Bhutan's vision consolidates consensus and looks forward to APEC coming to China in 2026
With the joint efforts of all parties, the "APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040" was adopted in 2020. Focusing on the three pillars of trade and investment liberalization, innovation digitalization and sustainable growth, it proposes to maintain the multilateral trading system and promote the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area construction, strengthening digital infrastructure construction and other paths to promote prosperity in the region.
Liu Xiaoyang told the Global Times reporter that in the past, the field of cooperation between APEC members was very broad, looking back at the past 5 years, the member's consensus on the three pillars is relatively stable, and basically can focus on cooperation around the three pillars, the relevance is increasing, and more and more projects are implemented.
Liu Xiaoyang said that an outstanding feature of APEC is that it is good at leveraging the cross- and cross-sectoral characteristics of some topics to further expand the dimension and space of its cooperation and to approach the three main pillars, rather than being limited to its own narrow fields.
APEC will come to China in 2026. Zhang Peter told the Global Times reporter that against the background of intensified economic turmoil and rising geopolitical uncertainty, the Gyeongju APEC meeting is expected to send a signal: unity and common responsibility. In the face of global headwinds, through cooperation, dialogue and innovation, the Asia-Pacific region is fully capable of continuing to maintain its status as the most dynamic and resilient economic region in the world.
He said that as the host country of the APEC conference in 2026, China can inject wisdom and strength into the Asia-Pacific community. China’s wisdom is reflected in advocating openness and partnership in global uncertainty; while China’s strength comes from its practical experience in the fields of innovation, green growth and interconnection. As a bridge builder and a driver of common prosperity, China has strategic advantages and can provide concrete solutions and cooperation visions for building a more dynamic and sustainable Asia-Pacific region.