China News Service, Hong Kong, October 21 (Reporter Dai Xiaolu) The 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' Meeting concluded successfully in Hong Kong on the 21st. Lan Fo'an, the chairman of the meeting and China's Minister of Finance, said at a press conference after the meeting that this meeting achieved a series of practical results and was a complete success.
With strong support from all parties, the meeting approved and issued the "2026 APEC Finance Ministers Joint Statement" and the "Asia-Pacific Digital Infrastructure Financing Policy Statement", which clarified the direction and provided guidance for Asia-Pacific economies to deepen financial cooperation. At the same time, the meeting also produced two outcome documents in the professional field, including "Supporting People's Livelihood Development and Investing in People - Fiscal Policy Report to Promote Sustainable Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region" and "A Collection of Practical Case Studies of Inclusive Financial Innovation in the Asia-Pacific Region", and summarized the APEC Youth Financial Talent Exchange and Cooperation Project.
Lan Fo'an said that overall, this meeting deepened the consensus of all parties in the Asia-Pacific in the following three aspects.
The first is to strengthen macroeconomic policy communication and coordination and work together to respond to external risks and challenges. All parties believe that they should strengthen the robustness of their own macroeconomic policies, further strengthen communication and coordination of macroeconomic policies, enhance the resilience of the fiscal and financial systems, better cope with uncertain and unstable factors in economic growth, and maintain regional economic and financial stability. At the same time, we should fully unleash the potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence in improving productivity and cultivating new growth drivers, so as to inject new impetus into Asia-Pacific economic growth.
The second is to promote practical cooperation in the financial field and promote long-term sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific economy. This meeting produced a series of practical results around topics such as fiscal policies to support people's livelihood development, digital infrastructure financing, promoting the development of inclusive finance according to local conditions, and promoting exchanges and cooperation among young financial talents, providing strong support for regional economic development with more effective policy responses. All parties emphasized the need to translate relevant results into concrete actions and continuously enhance the vitality of regional economic growth.
The third is to deepen the regional integration process and promote the construction of the Asia-Pacific community. The meeting broadly gathered a consensus on deepening Asia-Pacific financial cooperation and encouraged stronger multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Emphasizing the importance of APEC financial channels as a regional economic and financial cooperation platform, they promised to work together to deal with various risks and challenges and promote the construction of the Asia-Pacific community.
Specifically: First, in terms of fiscal policies to support people's livelihood development, all parties emphasized that supporting people's livelihood development and investing in people play an important role in promoting household consumption, boosting domestic demand, and improving productivity. At the same time, we must also strengthen financial discipline and ensure fiscal sustainability.
Second, in terms of digital infrastructure financing, all parties encourage the public sector to focus on creating a favorable policy and regulatory environment, support the private sector in providing funds and promote innovative financing, and encourage multilateral development banks to play a catalytic role, prepare for projects, and jointly provide financing support for digital infrastructure.
Third, in terms of inclusive finance, all parties believe that financial services should meet the diverse needs of individuals, families and enterprises, especially small, medium and micro enterprises, and emphasize the importance of sharing experience and good practices among APEC member economies.
Fourth, in terms of exchange and cooperation of young financial and economic talents, China initiated and held the APEC Youth Financial and Economic Talent Exchange and Cooperation Project. All parties highly affirmed the effectiveness of the project implementation and supported in principle the continued strengthening of the capacity building and experience exchange of young financial talents in Asia-Pacific.
Lan Fo'an said that China will work with all parties to implement the important consensus reached at the meeting and make positive contributions to the informal leaders' meeting to be held in November.
The 33rd APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting was held in Hong Kong from the 20th to the 21st. More than 300 representatives from APEC member economies, APEC observers and relevant international organizations attended the meeting.
