From October 20-21, 2001, the 9th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting was successfully held in Shanghai. A highlight of the meeting was the group photo of the leaders of APEC members, dressed in Tang Suits with new design elements, in front of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum on October 21. These suits, combining both traditional Chinese elements and modern Western designs, were known as the “Modern Tang Suits.”

Leaders attending the APEC meeting in Shanghai in 2001

The organizing committee of Shanghai APEC 2001 started to solicit the designs of the costume for the leaders’ annual retreat back in the summer of 2000 and received a host of design proposals. The final design, selected out of over 40 proposals, was a perfect hybrid of traditional and modern styles. The Modern Tang Suit, different from the traditional one-piece suit with raglan sleeves, employed modern sartorial techniques for shoulders and set-in sleeves. At the same time, the new version kept the classical Chinese elements such as standing collar, symmetrical lapels and knotted buttons. The Modern Tang Suit is a telling example of giving a modern expression to traditional Chinese elements in an era of globalization.

APEC leaders in Modern Tang Suits

Shanghai APEC 2001 was the first APEC meeting held in China. It was also a multilateral diplomatic event of global significance that China hosted after the launch of reform and opening-up. It served as a prelude to China’s home-ground diplomacy in the new century. The Modern Tang Suits China prepared for the leaders of APEC members, harmonizing traditional and modern elements,was a good illustration of harmony within diversity. The wisdom of “peace” and “harmony” the suit embodied was of particular significance at the time for the international community as well. At the meeting, China called on APEC members to firmly support the multilateral trading regime, enhance economic and technological cooperation, and strive to achieve the Bogor Goals. The success of Shanghai APEC 2001 helped the world learn more about China and China move closer to the center of the world stage.

At the ensuing APEC meetings, China put forward a series of important cooperation initiatives and proposals. In the spirit of the APEC family, China has committed itself to development through opening-up, vigorously promoted regional economic integration and firmly opposed trade protectionism. These efforts have added new vitality to the multilateral trading regime. And China’s development has generated great opportunities and benefits to the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. For more than three decades of development, APEC has become an important forum for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. China has all along contributed its wisdom and solutions to the stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and to peace, stability and development of the world at large.