Chinese President Xi Jinping in Thailand for APEC

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 17th Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Bali, Indonesia, from November 14 to 17, at the invitation of President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the announcement here on Friday.

He will attend the 29th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as visit Thailand from November 17 to 19, at the invitation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of the Kingdom of Thailand, Hua said.

According to Hua, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi will hold bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Joe Biden, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, among others, upon request.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a daily news briefing on Friday that the G20 Bali Summit is the first multilateral summit the top Chinese leader will attend after the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Amid accelerated global changes and a lingering pandemic both unseen in a century, and with the world economy on a downward trajectory, global development is beset by challenges. In this context, members of the G20, the premier forum for international economic cooperation, need to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, coordinate macroeconomic policies, and work concertedly for strong, sustainable, inclusive and balanced growth of the world economy, he said.

Zhao said China supports Indonesia's G20 presidency. Under the theme of "Recover Together, Recover Stronger", it is hoped that all parties will work to build consensus and advance cooperation on promoting global economic recovery and implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

President Xi's attendance at this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting is an important act of China's head-of-state diplomacy towards the Asia-Pacific. This fully shows the high importance China attaches to the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation, Zhao said.

Noting that with growing instability and uncertainties in the world economy and regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific is facing new challenges, Zhao said APEC is an important platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, and President Xi will deliver an important address at the meeting to elaborate on China's major propositions on deepening Asia-Pacific cooperation and promoting regional and global economic growth.

"We hope that all parties will embrace the vision of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, adhere to the founding missions of APEC, deepen solidarity and cooperation, advance the implementation of the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, and inject new impetus into the economic growth in the Asia-Pacific and beyond. China stands ready to work with all parties to secure positive outcomes at this meeting," he said.

On Xi's stay in Indonesia, Zhao said China and Indonesia are both major developing countries and emerging economies. The two countries have extensive converging interests and broad space for cooperation. "Under the strategic guidance of the two presidents, our two countries have further strengthened our new pattern of bilateral relations driven by the 'four wheels' of political, economic, cultural and maritime cooperation. We have also made big strides towards the vision of jointly building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future, setting a fine example of major developing countries seeking to strengthen themselves through sincere cooperation," he added.

During his trip to Indonesia, President Xi will hold formal talks with President Joko Widodo. This is another meeting between the two presidents after President Joko Widodo's visit to China in July this year, he said.

"Guided by the vision of building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future, China hopes to work with Indonesia to deepen high-level strategic mutual trust, strengthen high-quality cooperation on Belt and Road and practical cooperation in other fields, and advance our comprehensive strategic partnership for more outcomes, to bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples and contribute more positive energy to regional and world peace and development," Zhao said.

Noting that China and Thailand are close friendly neighbors, Zhao said in recent years, the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has delivered fruitful results, and solid progress has been made in major cooperation projects such as the China-Thailand Railway.

"In July this year, our two countries agreed on building a China-Thailand community with a shared future, adding new dimensions to our family-like bond in the new era. President Xi's visit to Thailand coincides with the tenth anniversary of the establishment of our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and is of great significance for the development of bilateral ties," he said.

During the visit, President Xi will hold formal talks with Prime Minister Prayut, Zhao said, adding that guided by the vision of building a China-Thailand community with a shared future, China looks forward to enhancing strategic communication and deepening exchanges and cooperation in various sectors with Thailand to bring the bilateral relations to new heights and inject fresh vitality into the development of the two countries and the wider region.