APEC young entrepreneurs’ conference opens in Hangzhou

Summary

The APEC Young Entrepreneurs' Conference opened in Hangzhou on 16 September under the theme 'Entrepreneurship-Driven, Youth-Led Innovation: Together Shaping an Inclusive and Prosperous Asia-Pacific', drawing about 200 young entrepreneurs, investors and representatives from APEC economies. The conference aims to promote friendly exchange and practical cooperation among young people in the region and to contribute youth momentum to building an Asia-Pacific community. It is hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, and organised by the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government and the Zhejiang People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Lu Xiangdong, vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Xu Wenguang, Standing Committee member of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and executive vice-governor of Zhejiang; Zhang Yan, vice-mayor of Hangzhou; and Ovando, director of projects at the APEC Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation, attended the opening ceremony and spoke. Lu said the conference is closely aligned with APEC's 'China Year' theme and is aimed at serving youth innovation and entrepreneurship in the Asia-Pacific, making it a signature youth-focused event hosted by China as APEC host. He said he expected youth delegates to be pioneering innovators, socially minded entrepreneurs and bridge-builders of people-to-people friendship.

Xu said Zhejiang offers fertile ground for entrepreneurship, partners that succeed together and a stage connected to the world. The province is ready to work with all sides to build a first-class business environment, share the benefits of talent mobility and jointly cultivate regional growth drivers. Ovando conveyed congratulations from APEC Secretariat executive director Pedroza on the success of the conference and said young people are an important force for future innovation and regional economic growth.

Zhang said Hangzhou has set a new goal of building a city of higher-level innovation and vitality, and is creating a 'tropical rainforest' suited to youth entrepreneurship. Miranda, a young entrepreneur from Peru, said artificial intelligence is driving a new round of social transformation and that APEC economies should strengthen cross-border connectivity. After the opening ceremony, delegates held discussions on artificial intelligence technology and applications, light entrepreneurship, and cross-border e-commerce and digital trade.

The conference also features entrepreneurship workshops, investment matchmaking sessions and city entrepreneurship ecosystem tours. Delegates will travel to Guangzhou afterwards for visits focused on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Commentary

APEC is a regional cooperation mechanism spanning 21 economies that together account for roughly 60 percent of global GDP, and its youth entrepreneurship agenda is more than a youth event. It is a window through which member economies test the rules of digital trade and the shape of innovation ecosystems. New Zealand hosted APEC in 2021 and has a direct stake in regional economic integration.

The Hangzhou conference puts artificial intelligence, light entrepreneurship, cross-border e-commerce and digital trade on the same agenda, and these map onto three variables that matter most to New Zealand small and medium-sized enterprises expanding into Asian markets: technology tools, asset-light models and digital channels. On the opportunity side, Hangzhou has built a mature cross-border e-commerce service ecosystem on the back of platforms such as Alibaba. The investment matchmaking sessions and city entrepreneurship ecosystem tours arranged for the conference offer New Zealand SMEs a low-cost route to Chinese and wider Asia-Pacific buyers.

Niche food and beverage and agritech products from New Zealand could reach regional markets through cross-border e-commerce channels, sidestepping the high thresholds that come with traditional commodity trade. On the competitive side, young entrepreneurs across the Asia-Pacific widely see AI as a tool for cutting start-up costs, while digital adoption among New Zealand SMEs has been relatively slow. They risk falling behind Chinese and Southeast Asian peers, particularly in applications such as AI customer service and smart product selection.

Coordination of digital trade rules under the APEC framework is also making slow progress, and differences in data localisation and consumer protection requirements across economies can raise cross-border compliance costs. Rather than waiting for regional standards to converge, New Zealand SMEs would do better to use concrete events such as APEC's thematic workshops and the follow-on visit to Guangzhou to test whether their products match the preferences of young Asia-Pacific consumers. They should also watch for policy spillovers from China's cross-border e-commerce export measures, including whether customs facilitation lessons from the Hangzhou comprehensive pilot zone are picked up by other APEC members.

Combining strengths in sustainable agriculture or clean technology with the region's youth entrepreneurship hotspots would open the door to early recognition in niche segments.

Keywords: APEC Young Entrepreneurs' Conference, Hangzhou, youth innovation and entrepreneurship, Asia-Pacific community, Lu Xiangdong, Xu Wenguang, Ovando, artificial intelligence technology and applications, cross-border e-commerce and digital trade, Guangzhou

Source: Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries – CPAFFC News