The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting of 21 countries and regions including China, the United States and Japan was held in Papua New Guinea on November 15 local time. Whether all parties can unite and promote multilateral free trade becomes a topic. It is expected that the meeting will issue a ministerial statement after the closing of the evening.

According to a report by the Japanese Kyodo News on November 15, Japanese Foreign Minister Kono Taro and the economic industry, Asahiro Hiroshi, attended the ministerial meeting. Kono took into account the protectionism of the Trump administration's trade policy and said that "many countries and regions have developed under the free and open international order based on the rule of law, but this order is faltering."

Regarding the East Asia Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), which abandons the goal of the year, He Ye mentioned "strive to negotiate as soon as possible and continue to actively promote negotiations."

At the 2017 ministerial meeting, the contradiction between the United States and some of the participating countries that promoted the protectionist trade policy was highlighted, and the wording coordination of the statement was blocked. The schedule of the Council of Ministers was also extended by one day.

This is the first international conference after the US mid-term elections. The future direction of Sino-US relations is also the focus of attention. The realization of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area (FTAAP) and the cross-border data processing, which strive for intra-regional trade and investment liberalization, have also become issues.