With 30 days to go until the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen, the region's attention turns to a familiar yet urgent question: how to keep the Asia-Pacific open, innovative and cooperative at a moment of rising uncertainty.

Under the theme "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together," this year's agenda places trade facilitation, digital and AI governance, and sustainable development at its core.

Officials, scholars and international organization representatives broadly agree that APEC's convening power remains its greatest asset: bringing economies together when formal mechanisms stall.

For China, the host, the opportunity is not simply to set the agenda but to demonstrate that openness and cooperation can still yield tangible results.

And the story is already being written.