2008 APEC CEO Summit Successfully Concluded
Edited by the Secretariat of the Council on December 1, 2008

The 16th APEC CEO Summit was held in Peru from November 20 to 23, and the China APEC Development Council sub-delegation of Chinese Entrepreneurs Delegation successfully attended the meeting.

1. About Fourth ABAC Meeting

The fourth meeting of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) 2008 was held on November 17-20 in Lima, Peru. Three ABAC China representatives and more than 200 members and staffers from 21 member economies attended the meeting. Zhang Lijun, Chairman of China APEC Development Council, as ABAC China representative also attended the meeting.

2008 ABAC Chair Juan F. Raffo chaired this meeting and Peruvian President Alan Garcia attened the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. He said that the world economy was expected to recover from the financial crisis in the short term, and governments and business communities from 21 APEC member economies should actively promote further trade liberalization and establish a free trade area in order to prevent the recurrence of the financial crisis.

In the following speech, President Garcia introduced the business resources of Peru and its opening up policy, and he expected the members to maintain a long-term good relationship with Peru and hoped business people to invest in Peru.

At the meeting, 2008 ABAC Chair Juan F. Raffo said that the business communities in the Pan-Pacific region should work together to overcome the current financial turmoil by economic cooperation. ABAC will strive to reach unanimous consensus positions for the response to the financial crisis by the business community and to convey it to the APEC leaders. At the same time, the delegates called on APEC members to actively take measures to address the financial crisis, and promote innovative development of the regional economy, especially in the current financial crisis, the region must resist the tendency of protectionism and trade controls in the economic decision-making.

Subsequently, ABAC submitted a report to the APEC Ministerial Meeting and recommended all the member economies to increase public investment, encourage tax relief , restructure the financial market smoothly and orderly, further promote free trade, help SOMs to operate as well as increase employment in orfer to achieve the steady development of the industry. At the same time, it also called on all member economies to recognize and support the declaration produced by G-20 summit on the 15th of this month in Washington, strengthen regional cooperation and achieve the necessary reform for the international financial system.

2. About 2008 APEC CEO Summit, Peru

2008 APEC CEO Summit was successfully held from November 20 to 22 in Lima, Peru. ABAC China representative Zhang Lijun, Chairman of China APEC Development Council led China APEC Development Council Sub-delegation of Chinese Entrepreneurs Delegation to attend the meeting. Zhang Lijun was the sub-head of the sub-delegation and its members were consisting of the CEO of the board member companies and staffers, including Secreary-General of China APEC Development Council Sun Ying, Deputy Director of work committee for enterprises Li Zhiming, Chairman of the Board of Jinggong Group Zhang Tingjie, Chairman of the Board of Wendlar Enterprise Management Group Co., Ltd. Yu Zuosheng, Secretary of Beijing City University Liu Lin, President of the Board of Jinggong Group Jin Liangshun, Chairman of the Board of Baichuan Natural Gas Sales Co., Ltd. Wang Donghai, General Manager of Baichuan Natural Gas Sales Co., Ltd. Liu Cunhou and Chairman of the Board of Xinghua Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. Chen Maochun.

The secretariat of the Council was responsible for organizing the sub-delegation to attend this meeting and completed the task successfully due to active coordination from work committee for enterprises and board member companies of the council.

During the meeting, the delegates participated in the various stages of the meeting and actively took part in the activities of the meeting as well as the seminar on the response to the global financial crisis. They listened to President Hu Jintao’s keynote address entitled " Make Joint Efforts Hand in Hand to Promote Economic Development ". Hu Jintao pointed out that “ We have made significant efforts to cope with the golal financial crisis as our ability permits, adopted a number of measures to solve the current crisis, including ensuring the stability of domestic banking system, providing the necessay liquidity support for financial markets and financial institutions, in close collaboration and cooperation with the macro-economic policies in other countries. China will take a responsible attitude to continue to wotk with the international community to strengthen cooperation and make efforts to maintain the stability of the global financial market. “

U.S. President Bush and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other APEC leaders also made brilliant speeches at the meeting.

After the meeting, the delegates talked about their gains for attending this year’s meeting and felt that all member economies thought much of the current financial crisis. They further affirmed the value of APEC as an international stage for enterprise development, and also expressed their wishes to seek enterprise development through the platform of APEC.

During the meeting, Zhang Lijun, Chairmand of China APEC Development Council, accepted joint media interview by Peruvian national television and six news media from Hong Kong.

The interview topics by Peruvian national television included 2008 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting held in Peru for the first time, when do delegates know about Peru's economy, culture, transportation and customs, whether do they wish to invest in Peru where have rich mineral resources, etc . Zhang Lijun pointed out that "Peruvian President has introduced about the basis of Peru’s development, policies and resources in his speech delivered at the ABAC meeting, and has expressed his keenness to welcome foreign investors to invest in Peru. Everywhere we go we have felt the enthusiasm, hospitality of the people, and there is rich in oil, gas and other resources, so I believe that through this meeting, more and more people will know Peru and invest in Peru.”

When accepted the joint interview by Hong Kong news media, Zhang Lijun stated his own point of views on the following topics, include: what role China could play in promoting the economy of APEC member economies, the importance of APEC cooperation in financial tsunami, the significance of this meeting, how does China seek cooperation with other developing countries to fight against economic downturn at the meeting, whether the meeting is expected to exchange views and reach a consensus on the above-mentioned topics by APEC member economies.

3. About the annual ABAC Dialogue with APEC Leaders

On November 23, APEC leaders held their annual dialogue with representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) as scheduled. At the dialoque, APEC leaders listened to advices and suggestions of the representatives of the business community on how to address the financial tsunami, against excessive shocks to the real economy and prevent the growing of trade protectionism.

As ABAC China representative, Zhang Lijun attended the dialogue and exchanged views with Peruvian President Garcia, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Myung-bak, Philippine President Arroyo, Mexican President Calderon Long and other leaders on the coping mechanisms for the current financial crisis.

On that day, the 16th APEC meeting in Peru formally came to an end. The meeting adopted Lima Declaration entitled “A New Commitment to Asia-Pacific Development”. The declaration stressed that "the current global financial crisis that we faced so far is one of the most serious economic challenges, so we will quickly and decisively to deal with the global economic slowdown and welcome the APEC member economies to adopt the monetary and fiscal stimulus policies as well as the necessary economic and financial measures to cope with the crisis”.