BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- As China hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this year, three words stand out in its agenda: openness, innovation and cooperation. They are also three important ways in which Chinese modernization is creating new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific.
This is particularly relevant as the Asia-Pacific Media Forum 2026 brings together media representatives to discuss the region's development and future. While the discussion goes beyond the media community, it highlights a pressing question: how development opportunities can translate into broader prosperity across the region.
Openness means more opportunities to connect with China's growth.
The Chinese modernization is taking place in an economy deeply integrated with the Asia-Pacific. China accounts for more than a quarter of APEC's combined GDP, while its trade and investment ties with regional economies continue to strengthen.
The scale of China-ASEAN economic ties offers a telling example. In 2025, trade between China and ASEAN reached 7.55 trillion yuan, or more than 1 trillion U.S. dollars, up 8 percent year-on-year. ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner.
As Chinese consumers demand more diverse goods and services and Chinese industries continue to upgrade, this large and growing market creates space for businesses across the region. Openness therefore does more than keep trade flowing. It allows China's development to generate demand and opportunities beyond its borders.
Innovation means more possibilities for new growth.
Chinese modernization is also being driven by technological progress and the green and digital transformation of the economy. In 2025, China's expenditure on research and development reached 3.93 trillion yuan, or about 551 billion dollars, up 8.1 percent from the previous year and equivalent to 2.8 percent of GDP.
For the Asia-Pacific, the significance of such innovation goes beyond the technologies themselves. A vast market and strong industrial capacity can help turn new technologies into products and applications on a large scale. As green and digital technologies become more widely applied, they can create new demand, new industries and new opportunities for businesses across the region.
This is closely aligned with APEC's own innovation agenda, as APEC economies are discussing open innovation, cross-border knowledge flows and cooperation in areas including artificial intelligence, digital transformation and green development.
Cooperation means turning opportunities into shared gains.
No economy can address today's development challenges alone. For the Asia-Pacific, where economies differ widely in their levels of development, industrial structures and capabilities, cooperation can help turn differences into complementarity and make development more inclusive.
Chinese modernization places strong emphasis on coordinated development and common prosperity. In practice, China's manufacturing capacity, technological advances and large market can complement the resources, industries and markets of other Asia-Pacific economies, creating more room for trade, investment and industrial cooperation.
This is particularly important for the Asia-Pacific, where APEC's 21 economies differ widely in their levels of development and economic structures. The region's diversity need not be a divide. With cooperation, it can become a source of strength.
As APEC economies look ahead, openness can widen access to markets, innovation can open up new sources of growth, and cooperation can turn differences into shared strengths. Together, they can help translate development opportunities into tangible benefits for people across the region.
This is how Chinese modernization can make a meaningful contribution to the Asia-Pacific: by opening up more space for shared development and helping turn the vision of an Asia-Pacific community into reality. ■
