Why APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2026 matters for the Asia-Pacific economy

• As economic uncertainty and technological change reshape the Asia-Pacific, APEC Secretariat Executive Director Eduardo Pedrosa explains why cooperation among the region’s 21 economies matters, and what APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2026 in Shenzhen could mean for businesses, workers and future growth.

By Eduardo Pedrosa

For many people, the economy is not an abstract debate about growth rates, tariffs or trade balances. It is the cost of groceries, the security of their jobs, the future of their businesses and whether their children will have better opportunities. And lately, there has been plenty to worry about.

Trade tensions are increasing uncertainty, artificial intelligence (AI) is opening new possibilities, but also raising difficult questions about jobs, skills and who will benefit.

These challenges will be at the heart of discussions when leaders of the 21 APEC member economies gather in Shenzhen, China, for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on 18–19 November, the culmination of APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2026.

Their task is not to resolve every economic challenge in two days. There are and will be divergent views and approaches to the world we live in today, but regional cooperation makes differences and shared risks more manageable, economic opportunities more widely accessible, and strengthens our resilience to the inevitable shocks we will face.

The stakes are considerable. The Asia-Pacific is deeply connected through supply chains, investment, technology and the movement of people. A policy decision in one economy can affect businesses, prices and jobs thousands of kilometers away.

And while economies may disagree on how best to respond, they cannot escape the consequences of one another’s decisions.

Cooperation does not mean agreeing on everything. It means finding ways to make progress where interests overlap, whether by making trade easier, strengthening supply chains or helping businesses and workers adapt to new technologies. That is why APEC Economic Leaders’ Week matters.

What happens at APEC Economic Leaders’ Week?

APEC Economic Leaders’ Week (AELW) brings together the region’s economic leaders, ministers, senior officials and business representatives to review progress and set priorities for future cooperation.

By the time leaders arrive in Shenzhen, more than 300 APEC meetings will have taken place across over ten Chinese cities throughout the year, bringing together some 10,000 participants. Another 10,000 are expected during Leaders’ Week alone.

Behind these numbers is a year’s work to make trade easier, improve investment conditions, strengthen economic resilience and create opportunities across the Asia-Pacific.

APEC operates differently from many international organizations. Its decisions are reached by consensus, commitments are voluntary and economies can cooperate at different speeds.

This approach encourages experimentation to understand what works best under which circumstances. It allows economies with different circumstances and priorities to find common ground, even when agreement on larger issues remains difficult.

Not every meeting produces a breakthrough. Nor should we expect every economic challenge to be resolved in a single week.

Much of APEC’s value lies in the steady work of building confidence and improving the policies and systems that help economies work together.

From shared ambitions to practical results

China’s APEC host year has focused on openness, innovation and cooperation. These priorities reflect the region’s need to sustain growth while adapting to a more uncertain environment.

One important task this year has been reviewing progress toward APEC’s long-term vision for 2040. Five years after adopting the Aotearoa Plan of Action, economies are taking stock of their cooperation on trade, innovation and inclusive growth, and identifying where more work is needed.

With trade patterns shifting and new technologies transforming industries, the review is also an opportunity to consider whether APEC’s priorities are keeping pace with the region’s changing needs.

Connectivity is one area where practical improvements can make a difference. A shipment may cross an ocean in days but face additional delays because customs procedures, documentation or digital systems do not work smoothly across borders.

For businesses, these delays mean additional costs and uncertainty. For smaller firms, they can mean growth or bankruptcy.

China has proposed a new framework for connectivity cooperation through 2035, building on APEC’s previous decade of work. The focus extends beyond physical infrastructure to include more efficient regulations, digital systems and the movement of people.

Digital cooperation is another priority. AI offers enormous potential to improve productivity in agriculture, services, energy and trade. Yet access to the infrastructure, skills and investment needed to benefit from these technologies remains uneven.

China’s proposals for digital economy and AI cooperation focus on supporting economies in building the infrastructure, skills and capabilities needed to benefit from technological change.

These efforts matter because productivity is ultimately what allows economies to improve living standards over time. When businesses can produce more efficiently, reach new markets and invest with greater confidence, the benefits can extend to workers and consumers.

Beyond Shenzhen

When APEC economic leaders meet this November, much attention will focus on the outcomes they endorse. These outcomes are important. They establish shared priorities and provide direction for the work ahead.

But the real test comes afterward. Can economies translate cooperation into lower costs, better infrastructure and greater opportunities? Can new technologies improve productivity beyond the industries already benefiting from them? Can we make our economies more resilient without making them less open?

These questions will not be answered in Shenzhen alone. For more than three decades, APEC has provided a space for economies to cooperate despite their differences. That work matters even more when uncertainty makes it tempting to turn inward.

We cannot prevent every disruption or guarantee that economic change will benefit everyone equally. But we can work together to reduce unnecessary barriers, strengthen resilience and create more opportunities for people and businesses to adapt and prosper.

The success of APEC Economic Leaders’ Week should not only be measured by statements, but by the commitments made, even if non-binding, and the direction they provides. Their impacts may not always be easy to measure, but the objective is clear: stronger businesses, better opportunities for workers and greater resilience in a changing economy.

That is what makes the work in Shenzhen matter, long after the leaders have gone home.

• Eduardo Pedrosa is the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat. He is an expert on regional economic cooperation working on diverse range of issues including trade, finance, digitalisation, climate change and structural reform.