Editor's note: The 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in November. This marks the third time China will host the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. Zhang Yansheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, and Liu Chenyang, director of the APEC Study Center of Nankai University, spoke to China Economic Weekly about China's contribution to APEC and the key focus areas for the forum this year. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

The past years since China joined APEC in 1991 have been crucial for transforming the country's economic system and its remarkable growth. As a major trading and investing member of APEC, China has played a pivotal role in facilitating globalization.

The country has been both a beneficiary and a key promoter of new technologies and the ongoing industrial revolution, contributing significantly to innovation, openness, green development and poverty alleviation. It has also played an important role in interactions between developed and developing economies.

The upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, which marks a new phase of development for the country. This year's APEC events, including a series of meetings and forums, will provide delegates from the various APEC economies an opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of China, and help enhance exchanges and mutual trust.

Three priorities have been identified for this year's forum: openness, innovation and cooperation. Given the trend of deglobalization, APEC members should work together to promote open regionalism, deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence, green development and other fields and work together to foster innovation in industries, institutions and markets.

The APEC Connectivity Blueprint 2015-25, endorsed by APEC in 2014 in Beijing, is an important landmark. The blueprint aimed to improve the physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity of APEC economies, improving the efficiency of cooperation across various fields. Updating the blueprint this year will be in the common interest of APEC members.

In terms of physical connectivity, there is a significant demand for connective infrastructure from both developing economies that need new infrastructure and developed economies that require upgrades to existing facilities. Efforts could focus on pooling financial resources and mobilizing international financial institutions and the private sector to provide stable and long-term support for infrastructure development in the Asia-Pacific. The construction of digital infrastructure is also crucial, given the rapid growth of the digital economy and AI.

Institutional connectivity focuses on fostering a sound business environment, reducing transaction costs and creating better conditions for trade and investment in the region. As global trade rules face challenges, advancing regulatory cooperation to safeguard trade and investment activities of all members and maintaining the resilience and security of industry and supply chains in the region will be key missions for APEC.

For people-to-people connectivity, discussions are underway to allow more professionals, such as doctors, teachers and engineers, to benefit from the APEC Business Travel Card policy. This will help further boost cooperation among APEC members.

APEC is committed to coordinating various free trade agreements. The Spaghetti Bowl effect, where numerous overlapping trade agreements create a complicated set of rules, can be eased if the forum promotes a high-standard institutional free trade framework.

The disruption of the global value chain caused by geopolitical frictions highlights the importance of APEC, a mechanism that allows various parties to engage in detailed negotiations on economic and trade cooperation.