Biden, Xi Jinping, and Others Head to APEC... Opening on the 11th in San Francisco, USA

Major Leaders Attend Amid Ukraine and Middle East Wars

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, attended by 21 member country leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, will be held from the 11th to the 17th (local time) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, USA.

This meeting, held in the United States for the first time in 12 years since 2011 in Honolulu, Hawaii, includes South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the attendee list. Although not officially announced, the attendance of Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is at war with Ukraine supported by the West including the U.S., will not attend. John Lee, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in August 2020 in relation to large-scale protests in Hong Kong, will also not participate.

This meeting takes place amid two ongoing wars worldwide: the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. The APEC annual leaders' meeting, where heads of state gather, will be held from the 14th to the 16th.

At this summit, attention is focused on the face-to-face summit between President Biden and President Xi amid the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies, the U.S. and China. If this meeting is finalized, it will be the first time the two leaders have met face-to-face since the G20 summit held in Bali last November.

U.S. President Joe Biden (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Prior to this, from the 11th, economic ministers' meetings will be held, and from the 14th to the 16th, the CEO Summit will take place with business leaders from each country attending. At the CEO Summit, more than 20 business leaders from companies with deep interests in China, such as Pfizer, Uber, and ExxonMobil, will convene.

The host country, the United States, has set the agenda for this APEC summit as "Building a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All." The U.S. government explained that it aims to promote a "connected, innovative, and inclusive" region and to develop a free, fair, and open economic policy agenda that benefits American workers, businesses, and families.

There is also interest in whether a joint declaration will be adopted at this summit. Last year, a joint declaration was adopted supporting and strengthening the multilateral trade system, with most member countries condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, given the two ongoing wars this year, conflicting interests among member countries make it unlikely that a joint declaration will be adopted.

Matt Goodman, a trade expert who was a White House coordinator during the 2011 Hawaii APEC summit, said, "Considering that both Russia and China are members of APEC, it is more difficult than ever to achieve concrete results." He added, "Small groups of like-minded countries may issue their own statements."

Since being elevated to a leaders' meeting in 1993, APEC includes 21 member countries such as South Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Russia, six ASEAN countries, and Hong Kong. The member countries have a combined population of about 3 billion (38% of the world population), account for 62% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and represent about half of global trade.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.