President Lee Jae Myung greets Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the APEC summit on Friday. (Yonhap)
President Lee Jae Myung greets Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the APEC summit on Friday. (Yonhap)

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit began its concluding session Saturday, as world leaders seek to forge consensus on free trade and multilateralism.

This year's APEC forum, hosted by South Korea, is taking place amid the ongoing tit-for-tat trade war between the United States and China, with Washington downplaying free trade under its "America First" policy, while Beijing has assumed what was once the US role of championing it.

The 21 APEC member economies include the US, China, Japan, Russia, Canada and others in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, as well as Peru and Chile.

Saturday's final session, titled "Preparing a Future-Ready Asia-Pacific," focused on artificial intelligence and demographic changes -- the two initiatives pushed for by South Korea.

President Lee Jae Myung called for finding "creative solutions" to better embrace the era of AI and aging society, proposing an AI initiative for policy exchanges and tackling the AI divide.

"The foremost principle is to build an AI-driven society where technological innovation fosters inclusive growth, 'the AI for all,'" Lee said in the opening remark.

"South Korea's AI Initiative is the result of our firm determination to seize this great wave of change driven by the AI and turn it into an opportunity for us," Lee said.

Lee proposed establishing an "Asia-Pacific AI center" to boost AI capabilities in the region.

To better address demographic changes, Lee proposed a "joint framework" to respond to challenges stemming from the decreasing population.

South Korea plans to produce an outcome endorsed by all APEC participants in a written joint declaration, or the envisioned "Gyeongju Declaration," and put the spotlight on its own initiatives, such as artificial intelligence and demographic changes.

The two-day gathering has focused on ways to strengthen economic resilience and spur growth amid uncertainties driven by a growing tide of protectionism.

Taking center stage at Friday's first session of the APEC summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for safeguarding multilateral trading system, proposing creating an "Asia-Pacific community," in the face of growing uncertainties.

Drawing attention is whether and to what extent the leaders will reach a consensus on charting the path for international trade, as they hold differing views on the global free trade order underpinned by multilateralism and the World Trade Organization system.

Most of the APEC economies have endorsed WTO-based free trade system in their joint declarations in the past few years.

Between 2021 and 2024, all APEC summit declarations included mention of a rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO "at its core," which first appeared in the 2021 declaration, after Trump's first term ended.

The APEC leaders' declaration can only be adopted by consensus, with support from every single member economy.

A separate statement from the APEC Ministerial Meeting will also be released, detailing efforts to expand cooperation in various sectors.

Following the main session, Lee will formally hand over the APEC chairmanship to Xi in a ceremony. China is the host for next year's APEC.

Lee will later join the rest of his visiting counterparts for a group photo.

Lee will then hold a press conference to explain the outcome of the summit.

After the summit wraps up, Lee is scheduled to hold his first bilateral meeting with Xi, which will be followed by a dinner banquet. (Yonhap)