By Yang Yulai, Yuan Sijie, SFC, 21st Century Business Herald

The first APEC Senior Officials' Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM1) for 2026 are being held from February 1 to 10 in Guangzhou. This marks the first official event of APEC "China Year."

Centered on the 2026 APEC theme of "Building an Asia-Pacific Community and Advancing Shared Prosperity" and the three priority areas of openness, innovation and cooperation, the first SOM features more than 70 meetings and related activities, covering a wide range of topics including trade and investment, economic and technical cooperation, and technological innovation.

China's engagement with APEC spans more than three decades. Since China officially joined APEC in 1991, APEC Economic Leaders' Meetings have been successfully held in Shanghai and Beijing. In November 2026, the story will continue in Shenzhen, Guangdong. 

Chief Producer: Zhao Haijian

Supervising Producer: Shi Shi

Editor: He Jia, Li Yingliang 

Reporter: Yang Yulai

Photographer: Yuan Sijie 

Video Editor: Yang Yulai

Poster Design: Zheng Jiaqi 

New Media Coordination: Ding Qingyun, Zeng Tingfang, Lai Xi, Huang Daxun

Overseas Operations Supervising Producer: Huang Yanshu

Overseas Content Coordinator: Huang Zihao

Overseas Operations Editors: Zhuang Huan, Wu Wanjie, Long Lihua, Zheng Quanyi 

Produced by: Southern Finance Media Corp.