https://www.scmp.com/rss/321572/feed Leaders from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)  bloc converge in Manila for two days of talks on November 18-19, 2015. Founded in 1989 in Canberra, Australia, Apec aims to demolish barriers to trade and investment through nonbinding accords. The unwieldy grouping of countries and self-governing territories that range from liberal democracies to dictatorships accounts for three billion people, half of global trade and 60 per cent of world GDP. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com When New Zealand, this year’s chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, decided to make it a “virtual” year, abandoning the usual gruelling regime of hundreds of face-to-face meetings spread across Apec’s 21 economies, many celebrated. No more long, exhausting flights across a region spread from St Petersburg in the West, to Atlanta, Santiago and Arequipa on the eastern side of the Pacific. So many millions of dollars saved. No more dislocation of family life or normal work... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3154059/thailands-decision-physically-host-apec-recognises-virtual?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3154059/thailands-decision-physically-host-apec-recognises-virtual?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Oct 2021 19:30:25 +0000 The six biggest US banks have never had a US$100 billion year. Until now. Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase and their peers have already reported more than US$111 billion of profit for 2018. Morgan Stanley will only make that number bigger when it releases its fourth-quarter results Thursday. They have Republican tax cuts to thank, along with rising interest rates, a surge in deal making and a retail-banking boom. JPMorgan and Bank of America both had record years, while Goldman Sachs and... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2182448/its-official-wall-street-topped-100-billion-profit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2182448/its-official-wall-street-topped-100-billion-profit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jan 2019 01:52:00 +0000 You may be planning for Lunar New Year, but I am planning for San Francisco and the start of a new APEC year, and praying that the Year of the Fire Monkey does not play mischievous tricks. After the past eight years working inside APEC on behalf of Hong Kong business, along with our APEC Business Advisory Council representatives, I confess that I fear 2016 is going to be one of the more challenging. That is not the fault of Peru, the 2016 chair of the 21-economy APEC grouping around the Pacific.... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1907599/why-year-will-be-challenging-one-apec?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1907599/why-year-will-be-challenging-one-apec?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Jan 2016 06:05:41 +0000 A Beijing-backed plan for a regional free-trade pact failed to advance on Thursday afternoon, with Asia-Pacific leaders simply repeating their support for a goal made at last year’s Apec summit. In a joint declaration to wrap up the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the 21 leaders again backed a strategic study of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), the goal they set in 2014 at their meeting in Beijing. They also said the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880716/beijing-backed-free-trade-plan-fails-advance-apec?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880716/beijing-backed-free-trade-plan-fails-advance-apec?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Nov 2015 17:30:15 +0000 Plenty of eyebrows were raised when the police-escorted motorcade carrying President Xi Jinping  on his arrival in Manila stopped at the lobby of a decades-old hotel far from the city’s business centre of Makati. Read more: Full coverage of the 2015 Apec summit The Century Park Hotel was little known even to the press officers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, who had to look it up on the internet in response to media requests. But Xi’s arrival meant the hotel, ranked a lowly 26... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880374/fit-president-hotel-owned-one-manilas-richest-men-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880374/fit-president-hotel-owned-one-manilas-richest-men-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:45:00 +0000 President Xi Jinping has commended the work of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and his government - according to Leung himself. Xi was also "fully affirming" of Leung's strategy to focus on economic development and livelihood issues after the government's political reform plan could not get past the Legislative Council. The president's comments were revealed by Leung yesterday after the two met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Manila. It was also Leung's... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1880305/chinese-president-full-praise-cy-leungs-post-reform-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1880305/chinese-president-full-praise-cy-leungs-post-reform-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:00:00 +0000 US President Barack Obama helped Alibaba’s Jack Ma Yun and Filipina entrepreneur Aisa Mijeno find common ground on sustainable living at the Apec CEO forum in Manila on Wednesday. The meeting drew together about 1,300 delegates from governments and business leaders for two days of talks and speeches that wrapped up yesterday. Obama told the audience that no nation was immune to the consequences of climate change, especially in the Asia-Pacific with its many low-lying islands. READ MORE: All... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/1880369/im-just-serving-matchmaker-here-obama-helps-jack-ma-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/1880369/im-just-serving-matchmaker-here-obama-helps-jack-ma-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2015 15:45:30 +0000 President Xi Jinping warned on Wednesday that rival trade pacts in the Asia-Pacific region might cause “fragmentation”. He also pledged to further lift restrictions on foreign investment in China. Speaking to business leaders at an Apec CEO summit in Manila, Xi urged member nations to accelerate the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) as many other economic deals were taking shape in the region. “Currently, many new free-trade arrangements keep emerging. It triggers... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880140/chinese-president-xi-jinping-sends-warning-over-rival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880140/chinese-president-xi-jinping-sends-warning-over-rival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2015 05:45:30 +0000 Commercial Radio has expressed strong regret at the Philippine government after it blocked one of its journalists, who was sent to cover the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Manila, from entering the country on Sunday. The Commercial Radio reporter was among nine Hong Kong journalists who were said to have been on a Philippine government blacklist after some of them asked the country's president, Benigno Aquino, about the 2010 Manila bus hostage tragedy during the Apec summit... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1879964/hong-kongs-commercial-radio-criticises-manila-barring-reporter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1879964/hong-kongs-commercial-radio-criticises-manila-barring-reporter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Nov 2015 16:15:00 +0000 Ministers from Asia-Pacific economies have pledged to beef up the fight against terrorism by targeting the financing of militant groups and performing risk assessments on air travellers and crews, following the deadly attacks in Paris. The statement was issued on Tuesday by ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) countries as they wrapped up a two-day conference ahead of a summit for state leaders. The ministers highlighted the Apec counter-terrorism working group’s efforts... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880037/apec-pledges-boost-fight-against-terrorism-following?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1880037/apec-pledges-boost-fight-against-terrorism-following?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:30:00 +0000 With a towering warship behind him, US President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced that his nation will hand over two ships to the Philippine Navy to boost its maritime security capabilities, in a bid to show the US and its allies won’t be cowed by Beijing in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Obama said the pair of ships — one U.S. Coast Guard cutter, one research vessel — were part of a broader American plan to scale up assistance to naval forces in Southeast Asia, where coastal nations... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1879870/signal-china-obama-will-give-2-ships-philippines-boost-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1879870/signal-china-obama-will-give-2-ships-philippines-boost-its?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Nov 2015 11:30:15 +0000 Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor this morning offered her backing to the Hong Kong football team which will come face-to-face with China in a highly anticipated World Cup qualifying match tonight, in contrast to the city’s chief executive who sidestepped the question of whom he would support. “Of course I will support the Hong Kong team to play a wonderful game tonight,” said Lam, who is the city’s acting chief executive today as Leung Chun-ying attends APEC in Manila. She gave her... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1879718/hong-kong-chief-secretary-hopes-citys-football-team-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1879718/hong-kong-chief-secretary-hopes-citys-football-team-has?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Nov 2015 02:45:30 +0000 The Japanese and Philippine leaders will agree this week on a deal paving the way for Tokyo to supply Manila with used military equipment, possibly including aircraft that could be deployed to patrol the disputed South China Sea, sources said. The deal will mark the first time Japan has agreed to directly donate military equipment to another country, the latest example of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s more muscular security agenda. The agreement in principle will be announced after Abe and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1879524/japan-may-soon-supply-philippines-surveillance-and-sub-hunting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1879524/japan-may-soon-supply-philippines-surveillance-and-sub-hunting?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Nov 2015 12:20:36 +0000 Hongkongers have long regarded the Philippines with barely-concealed contempt. Decades of misrule stemming from the gross abuses of the Marcos Era have left the republic trailing badly at a time when “Asia Rising” was the dominant narrative. However, times have changed. The Philippines is no longer a basket case. The nice Filipino lady you meet on the plane is more likely to be a software designer on a weekend break rather than a domestic worker. The numbers reinforce the archipelagic nation’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1879272/noynoy-aquino-takes-philippines-forward?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1879272/noynoy-aquino-takes-philippines-forward?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:45:15 +0000 The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summits, which draw the presidents of China, the United States and 19 other regional leaders, are sometimes memorable for just one moment: the leaders posing for a group photo in unexpected attire. Former US president Bill Clinton started the tradition in 1993, when he handed out leather bomber jackets similar to those worn by American fighter pilots. The US leader apparently wanted his fellow VIPs to feel relaxed at the meetings. Dubbed the “silly... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1879253/apecs-daft-statement-how-silly-shirts-photo-became-diplomatic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1879253/apecs-daft-statement-how-silly-shirts-photo-became-diplomatic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Nov 2015 07:30:00 +0000 The presidents of China and the Philippines are to sit down for their first official talks this week on the sidelines of a regional economic summit amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea. Few concessions would be made by either side on territorial claims, but they might agree to look into a risk management mechanism and strengthen economic ties, analysts said. READ MORE: I’m taking Xi to a Chinese restaurant if he visits Manila, says Aquino President Xi Jinping will join 20 other heads... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1879096/chinas-xi-jinping-meet-philippines-leader-benigno?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1879096/chinas-xi-jinping-meet-philippines-leader-benigno?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Nov 2015 14:00:00 +0000 When leaders from the 21 Apec economies – ranging from America’s Barack Obama and China’s Xi Jinping to Peter O’Neill from Papua New Guinea and Michelle Bachelet from Chile – fly into Manila this week they will cause traffic jams in the sky around Manila airport that will without doubt be as bad as the traffic jams we have come to know and love on Manila’s cluttered streets. To ease the congestion, and to put leaders at ease to discuss the region’s pressing issues, offices have been closed for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1878490/apec-summit-spotlight-likely-fall-competing-american-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1878490/apec-summit-spotlight-likely-fall-competing-american-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Nov 2015 09:00:15 +0000 China will seek to push its own vision of an Asia-Pacific trade pact at a regional summit next week, senior officials said yesterday, just weeks after the release of a rival US-led deal that pointedly excludes the Asian giant. Beijing sought to promote the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, or FTAAP, at last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which it hosted. At the meeting’s close, participants endorsed efforts to explore the idea, which was seen as a potential rival to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1877639/china-keen-promote-its-idea-asia-pacific-trade-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1877639/china-keen-promote-its-idea-asia-pacific-trade-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Nov 2015 15:00:45 +0000 Beijing is aiming for "Apec blue" skies over the capital for second world war commemorations in September, with plans to revive tough air pollution restrictions introduced for the international summit last year. Chen Tian, head of Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, said the bureau would "refer" to measures taken for November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to ensure good air quality for the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war on September3, The Beijing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1843244/beijing-paint-skies-apec-blue-second-world-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1843244/beijing-paint-skies-apec-blue-second-world-war?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jul 2015 16:00:15 +0000 Trade ministers from 21 Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday issued strong support to the World Trade Organization’s efforts to boost global trade amid a flurry of regional free trade agreements. The ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping of nations vowed at the end of their two-day meeting on the central Philippine resort island of Boracay to ratify by December a landmark trade facilitation deal and to contribute to a work programme to conclude the much-delayed Doha round of... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1808414/apec-backs-wto-efforts-boost-global-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1808414/apec-backs-wto-efforts-boost-global-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2015 02:40:40 +0000 President Xi Jinping did not talk like he was an “elder brother” and seemed “very sincere” during a meeting in Beijing in November, Philippine President Benigno Aquino has said. During their 10-minute conversation on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, Xi also acknowledged that “because of the South China Sea, we had regretful developments” and looked forward to turning a new page in bilateral relations, according to notes of the conversation Aquino released... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1772001/xi-did-not-talk-down-me-elder-brother-aquino-says-apec-chat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1772001/xi-did-not-talk-down-me-elder-brother-aquino-says-apec-chat?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2015 08:00:15 +0000 Apec finance chiefs are working on package of measures to improve access to capital markets for small businesses in a bid to boost the competitiveness of the sector in the 21-economy bloc. A meeting of senior central bank and finance ministry officials in the Philippines has hammered out the basis of an agreement to be signed later in the year. Small businesses account for more than 97 per cent of firms and half of the employment in Apec economies, but generate less than 35 per cent of their... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1734060/apec-looks-improve-small-firms-access-capital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1734060/apec-looks-improve-small-firms-access-capital?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2015 02:15:45 +0000 Emerging market economies will be driving the global trade talk agenda in Apec through 2020 and the group must tackle a widening gap in incomes and try to restore the faith of people that trade will bolster prosperity in the region, Apec secretariat executive director Alan Bollard said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “We are seeing increasing inequalities in a range of quite different economies – while economies are getting closer together in terms of their wealth and income,... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1694824/apec-turn-focus-income-inequality-inclusive-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1694824/apec-turn-focus-income-inequality-inclusive-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2015 07:15:30 +0000