Putin, APEC leaders to craft regional framework at summit in China

DALIAN /China/, August 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss with the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations key guidelines for developing closer cooperation at the association’s upcoming summit, Russian foreign ministry’s ambassador at large, Marat Berdyev, said.

"Our delegation to the Shenzhen summit on November 18 and 19 will be led by President Vladimir Putin. This will be the first time he has participated in the event in person since 2017. Together with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and heads of the leading regional economies, they will coordinate key guidelines for the further development of the Asia Pacific region," he told TASS after the third meeting of senior officials from the APEC countries in China’s Dalian.

According to Berdyev, the Russian side is working to include Russia’s application for APEC presidency in 2035 in the summit's agenda. This year’s "Chinese presidency set a goal of creating a prosperous society in the Asia Pacific region as a basic OPEC slogan," he recalled.

"The three main vectors are openness, innovation, cooperation. The negotiating process on final leaders’ documents has entered its active phase. In addition to the leadership declaration, discussions are also underway regarding separate sectoral statements - on connectivity, as well as on the digital economy and artificial intelligence," the diplomat explained.

The Russian foreign ministry is working in close coordination with the Chinese and "many other like-minded partners" on incorporating Russia’s approaches into the overall framework of agreements."

On August 17 through 28, Dalian hosted a series of events within the APEC forum format - around 130 sessions, working group meetings, and seminars. According to updated data, there were around 3,000 participants who discussed issues in such areas as trade, transport, food security, customs cooperation, science and technology, energy, public health, emergency response, and anti-corruption actions. The meeting was geared to promote new agreements on major areas of cooperation and prepare the leaders’ meeting to be held in China’s Shenzhen in November.

Earlier, Berdyev confirmed that Russia’s delegation to the summit will be led by President Vladimir Putin, which demonstrated that Russian attaches greater significance to the development economic relations with its partners in the Asia Pacific region, in particular, with China.