Australian economist Peter Drysdale gave an exclusive interview to the Global Times: Shenzhen APEC will inject impetus into multilateral cooperation

[Global Times Report Reporter Ding Yazhi, Li Xuanmin] From November 18th to 19th, the 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Informal Meeting will be held in Shenzhen. With the theme of "Building an Asia-Pacific Community and Promoting Common Prosperity", the conference focused on the three priority areas of "openness, innovation and cooperation". Peter Drysdale, honorary professor of economics at the Australian National University, director of the East Asia Economic Research Bureau, and editor-in-chief of the East Asia Forum, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Global Times that Shenzhen is an excellent innovation ecosystem and has witnessed the benefits of innovative cooperation. The APEC meeting held in this city is a real "test". All parties should use this platform to overcome the strong barriers that seriously hinder cooperation in the fields of green development, digital economy and connectivity, and implement the commitment to openness and inclusiveness to promote the development of the entire region.

Global Times: In your opinion, what message does this year’s APEC meeting plan send to the outside world? What topics are likely to be prioritized at the meeting?

Drysdale: China has strategically used the APEC platform in the past to gain huge benefits by promoting its own economic reforms. "Building an Asia-Pacific community" is the core theme of this year's APEC meeting, and its primary meaning is to defend the global multilateral system. The Asia-Pacific region's prosperity is built on this system, and Washington is pressuring countries to move toward bilateral agreements. If we fail to stand firm and work together to resist these pressures, the Asia-Pacific region's interdependence and its prosperity will be undermined.

Although Washington has severely impacted the certainty of global trade policies and WTO trade rules, and withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the United States has not withdrawn from APEC. This is because the United States has a major stake in the region, and APEC is extremely valuable in managing economic and political relations in the region. For U.S. companies, it is an important platform for interaction with business partners and governments in the region.

China has demonstrated openness, innovation and cooperation through concrete actions, which is also the core of this year's APEC meeting agenda and is crucial to building a prosperous Asia-Pacific community. For example, China could advocate for an industrial decarbonization strategy to help achieve climate goals. Through pioneering exploration of industrial decarbonization within APEC economies, we can build consensus among all parties and most effectively promote the realization of this goal.

The meeting agenda is also expected to leave space for resolving differences through dialogue. The communication time between members outside of meetings is also the occasion where APEC plays its most important and effective role.

Global Times: Some observers refer to China's ideas on Asia-Pacific cooperation, including openness, green development, digital economy, and connectivity, as the "China Path" or the "China Plan." How do you evaluate the practical significance of these concepts in maintaining the multilateral trading system and avoiding regional fragmentation? Which practical experiences are worth learning from by other economies?

Drysdale: This idea is the right starting point. The next step is to find practical ways to translate it into action and overcome the strong barriers that seriously hinder cooperation in the fields of green development, digital economy and connectivity. Take China's huge competitive advantages in electric vehicles and renewable energy products as an example: Countries such as Australia are benefiting from the rapid growth of China's electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries, wind turbines and components related to digital equipment. But at the same time, some countries in the region and around the world are either worried about the scale of China's production capacity, or they are trying to build their own electric vehicle production capacity through inefficient protectionist measures, often at the expense of the interests of the entire region.

Within the Asia-Pacific market, a more productive trade and industrial production model can be built through professional division of labor in the regional supply chain. China can discuss these issues within the APEC framework and promote them with the help of regional trade arrangements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), thereby preventing countries from taking protectionist measures in response to the major trade transformation currently taking place in the region and even globally.

China is a huge country with far-reaching influence in international trade. China can actively interact with its partners to cushion the impact of these changes, for example by investing in giving partners a role in these supply chains.

Global Times: During this meeting, the interaction between China and the United States attracted much attention. How do you assess the current Sino-US relations?

Drysdale: As the world's two largest economies, the stability of China-US relations is a "public good" for the entire region. The rest of us are both stakeholders in this relationship and have a role to play in it. Medium-sized economies such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN members have not only promoted regional stability but also promoted their own growth through cooperation with each other and with China and the United States.

APEC is a platform for managing Sino-US relations within a multilateral framework, and helps control the spillover effects of arrangements reached between the two major countries on other economies. All parties will pay close attention to the interaction between China and the United States in Shenzhen - not only to seek ways to ease bilateral trade frictions, but also to explore how to reduce political conflicts on a global scale, while ensuring that all relevant parties can participate, rather than excluding any party.

In the field of artificial intelligence, APEC already has relevant mechanisms in place, including the "APEC Artificial Intelligence Initiative (2026-2030)" that was recognized by all parties in Gyeongju, South Korea last year, and the "Chengdu Statement" adopted by the ministers responsible for digital and artificial intelligence in July this year. All economies can play a role in this process. For example, Singapore, New Zealand and Chile jointly launched the first digital economy agreement, the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). China is currently negotiating to join the agreement, and relevant negotiations were further promoted during the APEC Trade Ministers' Meeting in Suzhou in May. Under the APEC framework, working around the opportunities and challenges brought by artificial intelligence may be the most effective way to achieve better cooperation between China and the United States in the field of artificial intelligence.

Global Times: APEC is a non-militarized platform with economic cooperation as its core. In today's context of intensified competition among major powers and geopolitical tensions, why is this regional cooperation platform so important to Asia-Pacific economies?

Drysdale: One of APEC's strengths is its commitment to openness and inclusiveness - not only the principles it follows when formulating economic policies, but also the norms it upholds in political interactions. This reflects the basic principle of dealing with all parties on the basis of equality and is fully consistent with the purposes of the United Nations Charter. These principles are crucial to the economic success of the region, the key to maintaining political civilization and stability, and the cornerstone of building a practical "Asia-Pacific community."

Global Times: Australian Prime Minister Albanese will go to China to attend the APEC meeting. How do you view the opportunities for China-Australia cooperation under the APEC framework? What opportunities does this APEC meeting provide for exchanges between the two countries?

Drysdale: The APEC framework is the embodiment of the concept of "an open and rules-based global order" at the regional level. Both Australia and China have benefited greatly from this order, and the growth of bilateral relations has also benefited from it. APEC provides an important multilateral framework that helps push our bilateral relations to a new stage, which is in line with our common interests in the region and around the world. Australia and China have a broad bilateral agenda. For example, in the steel industry, we are committed to transforming current carbon emissions-based trade and industry into a low-carbon/decarbonization direction. The two sides have already launched preliminary cooperation in this regard, which requires the attention and support of the leaders of the two countries at the highest level. At the same time, if we can discuss the scale and details involved in this transformation with APEC and other regional partners, it will help us make greater progress on the bilateral agenda.

This is the "APEC way": bilateral initiatives, after being fully communicated to partners, are open to other parties based on the principle of non-discrimination, thus becoming the cornerstone of promoting the development of the entire region.

Global Times: In recent years, China-Australia relations have returned to the track of improvement. What do you think of the endogenous dynamics of bilateral relations and their prospects?

Drysdale: The core of China-Australia bilateral relations lies in the deep complementarity between us, and the importance of this complementarity to the economies of both countries and the entire region. China produces a significant share of the world's steel, while Australia supplies more than half of the world's iron ore, the vast majority of which is sold to China. This scale advantage allows us to work together to transform the industry to meet our respective national climate goals. We can jointly lead this agenda at the bilateral level, regional level, within the APEC framework and even globally.

More importantly, we are all committed to supporting APEC and the principles it advocates. APEC remains one of the most powerful and important barriers to preventing the multilateral system from disintegrating. This meeting helps to strengthen this role. The Asia-Pacific region is unique for its openness and inclusiveness. There is much room for us to work together to defend this situation.