Chinese president proposes Asia-Pacific dream

President Xi Jinping speaks to open the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Beijing, Nov 9, 2014. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to create and fulfill an Asia-Pacific dream in Beijing on Sunday, saying China's economy will bring huge opportunities and benefits to the region and the world.

He made the remarks when addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, which attracted over 1,500 business people from 21 APEC member economies and 17 other countries and regions.

The Asia-Pacific has a strong impetus for development and a bright future, with a rising standing in the world, but the region now stands "at a crossroads", Xi said.

He listed several challenges facing the region, such as lingering impacts of the international financial crisis, fragile recovery in some economies, the daunting tasks of raising economic equality and efficiency, as well as different directions and priorities in accelerating the regional economic integration process.

"The development prospect of our region hinges on the decisions and actions we take today," he said. "We are duty-bound to create and fulfill an Asia-Pacific dream for our people."

When elaborating on the idea, the president said the dream is about acting in the spirit of the Asia-Pacific community and out of a sense of shared destinies, following the trend of peace, development and mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly working for the prosperity and progress of the region.

He added that the dream is about staying ahead of global development and making greater contribution to the well-being of mankind.

The dream is also about having more economic vibrancy, free trade and investment facilitation, better roads, and closer people-to-people exchanges, the president said.

Moreover, the dream is about ensuring greater security and prosperity for the people and giving children a better environment to grow, work and live, he said.

To realize the Asia-Pacific dream, the region should redouble efforts to forge a partnership of mutual trust, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation and jointly build an open economy, Xi urged.

In addition, the region's economies need to explore new drivers for growth and draw a blueprint for comprehensive connectivity, he said.