PAST ACHIEVEMENTS OF APEC ECONOMIC LEADERS' MEETINGS

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is the highest-level mechanism for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, which covers an extensive part of the world and wields significant influence. The forum was formally established at a ministerial meeting in the Australian capital of Canberra on Nov. 5-7, 1989, attended by Australia, the United States, Japan,South Korea, New Zealand, Canada and the then-six ASEAN member states. In November 1993,the First APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting was held in Seattle. Since then, the meeting has been held once every year.

Over the decades, particularly in terms of the institutionalization of the economic leaders’meetings, APEC has made continuous progress on economic issues such as regional trade and investment liberalization. It has played a positive role in promoting the economic growth of the region and the world.