World trade benefits when economies dialogue: APEC

SANTIAGO: The world trade system will benefit when economies come together and have dialogue on mutually favorable solutions, an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) official said Wednesday.

Stronger trade is a way towards better shared prosperity, which is "the ultimate goal of APEC," said Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, the executive director of the APEC Secretariat, in a column published in Chilean newspaper "El Mercurio."

"With the decline of trade as the driver of growth for the region, the ministers elaborated strategies to strengthen trade" during the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting held in Chile on May 17-18, she said.

"For the region to be able to endure these difficult times, more economic cooperation is needed, not less," she said. "The prosperity of an economy depends on the prosperity of its neighbors." "APEC differs from negotiation tables, as well as from other trade blocs, in that its objective is to promote voluntary and oriented collaboration, to facilitate solutions between members, who in any other way, would not have the opportunity to interact," wrote the official.

APEC was created in 1989 as an engine to facilitate economic growth, boost technical and economic cooperation and improve the facilitation and liberalization of trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. As the rotating president of the bloc in 2019, Chile is set to host a year-long series of events leading up to next year's APEC forum.

Meanwhile, China's service trade with countries and regions along the Belt and Road (B&R) reached over $120 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

In 2018, the import-export volume of the service trade between China and Belt and Road countries and regions amounted to $121.7 billion, accounting for 15.4 percent of China's service trade, said Wang Bingnan, vice minister of the MOC. China has been the world's second-largest country in service trade for five consecutive years, with the total volume reaching 5.24 trillion yuan ($759 billion) in 2018, up 11.5 percent year on year, MOC data showed.

The share of service trade in China's total foreign trade went up from 11.1 percent in 2012 to 14.7 percent in 2018, according to the MOC. China has established bilateral cooperation mechanisms on service trade with 14 countries, endowing the country with a more diversified service trade market, said Wang. The 2019 China International Fair for Trade in Services will open on May 28 in Beijing and last for five days, attracting 130 countries and regions and 21 international organizations. Among the delegations, 98 come from the Belt and Road Initiative partner countries. A series of themed activities will be held during the fair, including forums on service trade cooperation.