The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Informal Meeting in 2022 will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 18 to 19, with the theme of "openness, connectivity and balance", aiming to promote more balanced and sustainable economic development. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), or "APEC" for short, is the most influential economic cooperation mechanism with the highest level, the broadest range of fields in the Asia Pacific region. At the end of the 1980s, the trend of economic globalization, trade and investment liberalization and regional collectivization gradually became a trend. As the proportion of the economy of the Asia Pacific region in the world economy increased significantly, then Australian Prime Minister Hawke proposed to convene the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference in January 1989 to discuss the issue of strengthening economic cooperation. In November 1989, Australia, the United States, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Canada and the then six ASEAN countries held the first APEC Ministerial Conference in Canberra, the capital of Australia, marking the formal establishment of the organization. In November 1991, China formally joined APEC. In November 1991, the third APEC Ministerial Conference was held in Seoul, the capital of South Korea (now known as "Seoul") and adopted the Seoul Declaration, which formally established the purpose and objectives of the organization, namely, "to maintain economic growth and development for the common interests of the people of the region; to promote economic interdependence among members; to strengthen the open multilateral trading system; and to reduce regional trade and investment barriers". APEC has five levels of operational mechanisms: informal leaders' meetings; Ministerial Conference; Senior officials' association; Committees and working groups; secretariat. Among them, the Informal Leaders' Meeting is the highest level meeting of APEC. In November 1993, the first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting was held in Seattle, the United States. At present, APEC has 21 members. In addition, there are three observers, namely the ASEAN Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. (Outlook New Times)