From October 28 to 31 local time, the APEC CEO Summit 2025 was held in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea. Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), led a delegation of Chinese business leaders to attend the summit. The delegation listened in person to President Xi Jinping’s remarks delivered at the event. And on behalf of the CCPIT, Ren Hongbin formally assumed the role of host for the 2026 APEC CEO Summit.

On the afternoon of October 31, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech titled “Building an Inclusive Open Asia-Pacific Economy for All” to the summit. Members of the Chinese business delegation attended the session in person and studied the key messages of President Xi’s important address at the earliest opportunity. They unanimously noted that President Xi’s speech fully demonstrates China’s strong commitment to and sense of responsibility for Asia-Pacific cooperation. It reflects China’s firm resolve to expand opening-up, advance Asia-Pacific integration, and champion economic globalization. The speech also contributes Chinese wisdom and solutions to addressing the major challenges facing today’s world. Chinese enterprises will continue to work hand in hand with the Asia-Pacific business community to carry forward the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation, openness, and perseverance, jointly promoting growth and prosperity across the region. As the host of the 2026 summit, China will spare no effort to contribute more to global economic growth through the strength of its business sector.

That same afternoon, Ren Hongbin attended the closing and handover ceremony of the Summit and delivered remarks as chairperson of the 2026 summit. In his speech, he actively shared the key outcomes of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, elaborated on China’s commitment to high-quality development and high-standard opening-up, and extended a warm invitation to the Asia-Pacific business community to attend the 2026 Summit in China. Ren also encouraged business leaders to actively participate in the 4th China International Supply Chain Expo and other trade and economic events, with a view to enhancing regional connectivity and cooperation for shared development in the Asia-Pacific. He called for joint efforts to build an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. During the event, Ren Hongbin also met with representatives from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. National Center for APEC, Johnson & Johnson, NVIDIA, Deloitte, and other organizations.

This year’s summit was convened under the theme “Bridge, Business, Beyond.” The event brought together over 1,000 political and business representatives from APEC member economies for in-depth discussions on topics such as regional economic integration, sustainability, artificial intelligence, digital innovation, global finance, and biomedicine. The CCPIT organized a delegation of more than 100 Chinese business representatives to attend the Summit. During the event, the 4th APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Meeting and the dialogue between APEC leaders and ABAC representatives were also held.