BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region will gather here on Nov. 10-11 for the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting.
In the run-up to the peak of this year's APEC meetings, a host of consensuses have been reached under this premier regional cooperation framework. The major ones are as follows.
FISCAL POLICY
On Oct. 22, finance ministers of APEC economies vowed to flexibly implement fiscal policies, in a bid to boost economic and job growth.
They reaffirmed commitments to addressing weaknesses in APEC economies, unleashing new sources of potential growth through new structural reforms, and fulfilling existing reform goals.
In particular, they agreed to continue to develop high value-added services, support small and medium-sized enterprises and increase investment in research and development.
The finance ministers also stressed the role infrastructure investment plays in realizing growth potential and meeting development goals.
FOOD SECURITY
On Sept. 19, the 3rd APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security concluded in Beijing with the issuance of the Beijing Declaration on APEC Food Security.
The declaration details measures to achieve the following objectives: to boost agricultural productivity and food production, to improve post-harvest management to reduce food loss, and to strengthen regional cooperation to promote food security.
APEC agriculture and food ministers also unveiled a new innovation-based cooperation framework to ensure safe, accessible and sustainable food supplies amid changing global conditions.
They vowed to enhance surveillance and early warning information- sharing as well as personnel training on trans-boundary animal and plant diseases and strengthen information exchange and cooperation on safety of food imports and exports.
They called upon APEC economies to step up efforts to liberalize and facilitate agricultural trade and investment in the APEC region and combat protectionism, including bans and other restrictions on food exports that may cause price volatility.
To address the effects of climate change, the ministers agreed to pursue joint research of new eco-friendly technologies, planting patterns and disease and pest control methods.
SME DEVELOPMENT
On Sept. 6, the 21st APEC Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Ministerial Meeting, held in Nanjing, east China, issued a statement detailing a new package of joint actions to strengthen the development of SMEs.
The document focuses on strengthening the innovation capacity and sustainability of SMEs while eliminating barriers to their participation in cross-border trade.
The ministers endorsed the Nanjing Declaration on Promoting SME Innovative Development, which mandates policy support for electronic commerce platform development and the application of "big data" and "open data" to facilitate SME expansion and cross-border trade.
ENERGY SECURITY
On Sept. 2, the 11th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting in Beijing adopted a declaration on taking new far-reaching measures to strengthen security and sustainable development within the energy sector.
The ministers called on APEC economies to step up efforts to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, and launched an LNG Trade Facilitation Initiative to boost supply through support for public-private partnerships and market-based pricing.
A new multi-million-U.S.-dollar APEC Sustainable Energy Research Center was also inaugurated.
MARITIME COOPERATION
On Aug. 29, the 4th APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting, held in China's southeast city of Xiamen, scored a new regional framework to address oceans-related challenges.
The meeting laid out detailed measures to establish a more integrated and sustainable ocean partnership in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ministers agreed to focus collaborative actions on four priority areas: coastal and marine ecosystem conservation and disaster resilience; the role of oceans on food security and food-related trade; marine science, technology and innovation; and the Blue Economy.
HEALTH COOPERATION
On Aug. 15, health ministers from APEC economies met in Beijing and formulated a new set of health management responses to control related threats to people, trade and economic security across the region.
A "Healthy Asia-Pacific 2020" initiative detailing these measures was endorsed by the ministers, calling for approaches of "health in all policies," "whole of government," "whole of society" and "whole of region."
In a statement, the ministers further articulated steps for deepening cooperation in the region to improve the development of the health sector, and reaffirmed the need for APEC economies to strengthen pandemic preparedness in the region to mitigate the impact of outbreaks.
They also agreed to continue joint work to ensure safe medicines by encouraging the adoption of common data standards to enhance tracking of tainted or false drug products in the supply chain.
ANTI-CORRUPTION COOPERATION
On Aug. 15, the first APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACT-NET) Meeting was held in Beijing.
The APEC members voiced support for the establishment of the ACT-NET in 2014 and endorsed the ACT-NET Terms of Reference.
The goal of the ACT-NET is to establish and develop an inter-economy network connecting anti-corruption and law enforcement officers to enhance informal cross-border cooperation.
The members adopted the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption. The final version will be submitted to the Concluding Senior Officials Meeting in November for endorsement with the view to incorporate it as part of the 2014 leaders' declaration.
Attendees shared detailed insights into on-going criminal investigations and prosecutions for the first time on an APEC-wide basis during the inaugural meeting of ACT-NET.
A secretariat, to be initially hosted by China, will manage information-sharing in an institutional capacity.
