Overview
- China’s international trade representative Li Chenggang chaired the opening session in Suzhou, which began Friday, May 22, after Commerce Minister Wang Wentao cited urgent official business.
- Delegates from APEC’s 21 economies focused on strengthening supply-chain resilience, addressing persistent trade imbalances and speeding implementation of prior consensus.
- Officials put digital trade and AI readiness on the agenda and signaled work on the long-running Free Trade Area of the Asia‑Pacific (FTAAP) process as a framework for deeper integration.
- The meeting took place days after President Trump and President Xi met in Beijing and discussed large commercial deals, and ministers said they would work on translating those pledges into concrete agreements.
- Participants warned that recent geopolitical shocks and China’s large trade surplus heighten the need for cooperation and policy steps, and they positioned this ministerial as preparation for the APEC leaders’ summit in Shenzhen.