China-built wind turbines in Chaiyaphum province, Thailand. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Edited by Tang Zhexiao

At the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which was held in Thailand's capital Bangkok on November 18-19, China called for joint efforts to build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. The proposal resonates with APEC's ambition of building an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040.

China has always been an active promoter of the cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Facing the new circumstances, China proposed to join hands together to push Asia-Pacific cooperation into a new height.

Since the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific was born in Shanghai 75 years ago, the region has created the Asia-Pacific miracle admired across the world with dynamic regional cooperation and fast growing economic strength.

None of these achievements have come about easily, and should therefore be cherished and guarded by all Asia-Pacific countries.

Chen Gang, assistant director and senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, noted that the Asia-Pacific miracle originated from peaceful development, openness and tolerance, as well as mutual respect between countries with different social systems and cultures.

"The Asia-Pacific miracle is the result of all Asia-Pacific economies' efforts to promote trade and economic integration, making the region more closely connected, thereby achieving prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region," said Low Kian Chuan, president of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia.

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for one-third of the world's population, over 60 percent of the global economy and close to half of global trade, making it the most dynamic growth belt in the world. It is very crucial to the stability and recovery of the global economy.

If the region upholds the concept of openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and common prosperity, it will not only benefit the region, but also bring impetus to global development, said Gu Qingyang, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore.

The Asia region has grown tremendously in terms of trade, infrastructure, environmental conservation and technology. And China has been at the core, making it the fulcrum of these developments, according to Stephen Ndegwa, lecturer-scholar at the United States International University-Africa.

Meanwhile, China has shared its development gains with others. Besides promoting the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, it is actively enhancing the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.

As former Chilean Ambassador to China Fernando Reyes Matta has said, the Asia-Pacific should be a region of peace, where cooperation channels remain open while competition does not compromise relations between peoples and nations.