On the afternoon of Nov. 16, 2000, the 8th APEC Informal Leadership Meeting came to a successful end after the endorsement of "Leaders' Declaration". Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said that the Chinese side is very satisfied with the successful conclusion of the 8th APEC Informal Leadership Meeting at a press conference held at the Brunei International Convention Center on the night of Nov. 16, 2000.

Tang pointed out that this year's APEC Informal Leadership Meeting is held against the backdrop that globalization and New Economy continue to gather momentum and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific sub-region becomes more dynamic. The Meeting focussed its discussion on globalization, New Economy, economic development in Asia-Pacific region, sub-regional cooperation, the current situation and future prospects of APEC cooperation and produced important consensus with the adoption of " Leaders' Declaration".

Tang summed up the achievements of the Meeting as follows:

Firstly, the Meeting reviewed the situations in Asia-Pacific region and the world at large over the past year and the leaders exchanged views and reached consensus on the priorities of the work of APEC in the future. The leaders were optimistic about the economic recovery and growth of the region. They pointed out that Asia has rid itself of the shadow of economic crisis and stepped into an era of full recovery and growth. They agreed that APEC should continue to expand cooperation, improve its ability of dealing with similar crises and consolidate the momentum of economic recovery.

Secondly, the participant leaders held discussions about globalization and New Economy and endorsed an action program relating to New Economy. They pointed out that the general trends of economic globalization and the accelerating development of the New Economy, promoted by the technology revolution, have brought both opportunities and challenges for the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting stressed that disparity between the rich and poor in the process of globalization and New Economy deserves special attention. To this end, APEC should step up eco-tech cooperation in capacity building and the tapping of human resources with a view to facing up to the challenges, seizing the opportunities, bridging the digital divide. Only in this way can globalization and New Economy contribute to the common prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. As a concrete measure, the Meeting decided that China and Brunei to jointly sponsor a high level meeting on human capacity building which is to be held in China in the middle of next year.

Thirdly, the Meeting also discussed such matters as the new round WTO negotiations, multilateral trade regime and sub-regional trade arrangements in an in-depth manner. The leaders agreed that APEC should continue to urge another round of WTO negotiations to be launched as soon as possible. They stressed that a healthy and fair multilateral trade system will not only push the sustainable and stable growth of world trade, but also promote common prosperity for both the developed and developing nations. They also agreed that the development of sub-regional trade arrangements and multilateral trade regime should feature mutual complementarity and mutual promotion and should observe the principles and norms of multilateral trade regime.

Fourthly, the leaders also exchanged views on world oil prices, calling for oil-producing countries and oil-consuming countries to carry out dialogues and take concrete measures in a bid to control oil prices within the reasonable scope. They also agreed that APEC should step up cooperation in the field of energy.