Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu (right) meets the newly appointed Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat Eduardo Pedrosa in Beijing on June 9, 2025. Photo: official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu met with the newly appointed Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat Eduardo Pedrosa in Beijing on Monday. Ma said that faced with the challenges of intensified unilateralism and protectionism, APEC, as the most influential economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, should firmly uphold multilateralism.

China attaches great importance to the role of APEC and supports the work of the APEC Secretariat, and China stands ready to take the opportunity of hosting the 2026 APEC to work with all parties to push Asia-Pacific cooperation to a new level and jointly build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, Ma said, according to a press release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

During the meeting, Pedrosa said that the Secretariat appreciates China's long-term contribution to promoting APEC cooperation and is willing to fully support China in successfully hosting the 2026 APEC meeting, promote more achievements in regional cooperation, and jointly promote the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, per the press release.

Global Times