Philippines Immigration focuses on doing business in the Philippines: The 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' Meeting concluded on the 11th in Cebu, a city in the central Philippines. Both inside and outside the venue, experts expressed confidence in the prospects of China's economic development. The two-day meeting focused on global and regional macroeconomic conditions, regional financial integration, fiscal reform and transparency, financial system resilience, and infrastructure development financing.
Alan Bollard, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, stated in an interview with the media during the meeting that China's role in APEC is significant, and that emerging economies, including China, must tap into domestic demand potential to drive economic growth.
During the Finance Ministers' Meeting, representatives from APEC economies focused on the importance of infrastructure development for sustainable regional economic growth. The meeting stated that all parties will further strengthen regional infrastructure development and cooperation, including promoting the development of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), creating a favorable environment to attract long-term investors to regional infrastructure development, and fully utilizing the financial and knowledge advantages of international multilateral institutions to continue strengthening capacity building and experience sharing.
Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada said in an interview with reporters that China's economy has flourished over the past few decades, making it one of the world's leading economies. In contrast, the Philippines still has room for improvement in infrastructure construction, particularly in airports, ports, and road transportation facilities. He stated that it is necessary for the Philippines to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) because the Philippines needs capital to improve its infrastructure.
Shi Yaobin, Vice Minister of Finance of China, led the Chinese delegation to the meeting. Shi Yaobin stated that since the beginning of this year, the Chinese economy has remained within a reasonable range. Shi Yaobin also emphasized that although the Chinese economy is currently facing certain downward pressure and recent volatility in the financial market, these are only phased phenomena that will not affect the overall situation of China's economic development, nor will they affect the general direction of China's reform and opening-up.