"This year provides an excellent opportunity for us all to come together and decide what issues we need to work on," says Eduardo Pedrosa, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum enters its "China Year" in 2026.
The question, he says, is simple but urgent: "What can we do together?"
Pedrosa emphasizes that APEC was designed from the very beginning as a non-binding dialogue forum. "Given the diversity of our membership, we weren't trying to come up with a formal institution to come up with trade agreements," he explains. "What we really were about was having non-binding discussions to create consensus on specific issues."
This openness extends beyond the region. "We call it open regionalism—even though we are the Asia-Pacific, we are looking outside, we are looking outwards so that we support the global multilateral system," Pedrosa says. With more than 200 to 300 projects a year, APEC's work spans capacity building and policy dialogues across its 21 member economies.
"Already, we are facing a very important time of transition in terms of technology," Pedrosa says. "We have artificial intelligence, we have other digital technologies coming on board." The urgency is reflected in recent APEC milestones. The 2026 APEC Trade Ministers' Meeting in Suzhou issued a joint statement supporting the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and endorsing a new services roadmap.
In July, the first-ever APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting in Chengdu adopted the Chengdu Statement, affirming that digital and AI technologies are unleashing enormous potential for sustainable growth.
Pedrosa notes the challenges at the global level: "The world has changed tremendously since the early 90s when we last had an agreement. But now the digital economy has exploded. Everyone is using mobile phones, but there's no certainty on issues like the customs moratorium on electronic transmissions." Yet within APEC, he says, "we have actually agreed on this in spite of whatever differences we may have."
Pedrosa highlights the strategic position of Guangdong and the Greater Bay Area, which will host the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen this November. "Guangdong and the whole Greater Bay Area are at a very strategic position facing Southeast Asia," he says. "It presents an opportunity for us to work together, providing a window, I think, to the rest of the region. It also has tremendous financial capacity, but also port facilities and others that enable different regional economies to work with China and to trade with China."
Despite differences among member economies, Pedrosa sees a clear pattern of collaboration. "There are issues of common concern, and there is common agreement as well," he says. He points to sub-regional agreements like the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement among a subgroup of APEC members and the Digital Economy Framework Agreement among ASEAN members. "In spite of these differences, you can see that different configurations of APEC members continue to work together and find solutions to the problems, but also the opportunities that lie ahead."
From trade and environment to trade and labour, and from micro, small and medium enterprises to digital connectivity, Pedrosa says APEC members are finding ways to move forward together. "We've made a lot of progress," he says. "We've agreed on how we make FTAs work for the prosperity of the peoples of our region."
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Cover, video: Zeng Xiangxing
