Business leaders from around the world endorsed the message of Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the annual APEC CEO Summit in Lima, capital of Peru, where he spoke in favor of safeguarding an open world economy.
More than 1,000 top executives, strategists, and government representatives have gathered for the annual summit, which concluded on Friday.
At the event, Xi called for efforts to steer economic globalization in the right direction, jointly promoting a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization to the benefit of various countries and communities.
The president's words were well received by delegates.
"The people who come to the CEO summit, who come to APEC weeks, they are all looking for a message, a message, but also more of inspiration, how they can really plan out their next step as a direction for a company, a direction for a nonprofit or a direction for their organization to move forward. And I believe to have this kind of an open statement and also open collaborative efforts, that actually do create a big inspiration to the people," said Kevin Xu, CEO of MEBO International, a Chinese medical research and evaluation company.
The world is in a new period of turbulence and transformation, said Xi, warning that the grave challenge of economic globalization is like sailing up a river -- the world either forges ahead or drifts downstream.
Attendees acknowledged that there is more work ahead.
"It's the right message. But for it to take action, it needs a lot of political will from all parties," said Rodrigo Yanez, secretary general of the Federation of Chilean Industry (SOFOFA).
The message from President Xi was especially welcome in the host country of Peru, which enjoys deep trade ties with China.
"His speech was really inspiring because he is telling the world that China wants free trade, global trade and doesn't want protectionism measures. So, that was very inspiring and very interesting to listening. China is taking the leadership of the future of the world," said Jose Tam Perez, president of the Peruvian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Xi and his Peruvian counterpart President Dina Boluarte on Thursday attended the opening ceremony of the Chancay Port via video link. The China-built megaport is expected to cut shipping time between China and South America nearly in half.
The two heads of state gave the order announcing the opening of the port.
Xi extended his congratulations on the successful opening of the Chancay Port and expressed respect for the builders from both countries who overcame difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, worked together, and completed all tasks with high quality.
"I'm very impressed. Yesterday, I was in the government palace in Peru, watching the extraordinary inauguration of Chancay Port. It was a very emotional moment for everybody, even if it was virtual. But it was very emotional time for us, very important. And the presence of the President of China only seems to confirm that for the two countries, this port is very important for the future strategic relations that we have between our two countries," said Julio Perez Alvan, president of the Peruvian Association of Exporters.
"We export to China mainly mining, agricultural and fishing (products). But we hope in the future, to attract more investments from China, to produce here in Peru. For example, BYD wants to put a factory in Peru and in different other countries and other companies (want to do the same). Maybe in the the short term, we can export industrial growth to Asia. That's our goal," said Felipe James Callao, president of the National Society of Industries of Peru.
Other highlights of the final day of the CEO Summit included a speech by TikTok CEO Shou Chew and panels highlighting the importance of AI and other digital technologies.
The events wrapped up with Peru handing over leadership of the CEO Summit to the Republic of Korea, which will host the APEC meetings in 2025.
Global business leaders commend Xi's speech at APEC CEO Summit
