In 1996, President Jiang expounded profoundly and comprehensively on Economic and Technical Cooperation at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Subic, and put forward for the first time the "APEC approach" guiding APEC cooperation. President Jiang also announced that China would try to reduce its average import tariff rate to around 15% by year 2000.

President Jiang emphasized in his speech that economic and technical cooperation and trade and investment liberation are of equal importance. Without a fruitful economic and technical cooperation, trade and investment liberation can not make much headway. In both principles and practices, APEC economic and technical cooperation is quite different from development aid in the traditional sense. This cooperation is reciprocal, based on equality, mutual benefit and complementarity. Its basic objective is to turn diversity into complementarity in the economic development of all members, so as to achieve common prosperity. President Jiang pointed out that in order to ensure an effective economic and technical cooperation, it is necessary to set a focus, namely, to define certain priority areas. He proposed that a science and technology industrial parks network be set up within APEC in order to accelerate the momentum of integration of science and technology with the economy. President Jiang also proposed that China is ready to open an environmental protection center in Beijing with advanced equipment to APEC members.

President Jiang emphatically pointed out that since its establishment, APEC has gradually come up with unique way of cooperation. This has come to be known as the "APEC approach". It has such features as recognition of diversity; emphasis on flexibility, gradual progress and openness; adherence to mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, consensus and voluntarity; and combination of individual and collective actions. Guided by the collectively defined common objectives, APEC members are free to make their respective efforts in light of their own circumstances. APEC practice has shown that this approach is viable and effective and should be maintained. Departure from this approach will bring APEC difficulties hard to overcome.

Osaka Meeting (1995)

During Osaka Meeting in 1995, President reiterated China' s basic stand about carrying out regional economic cooperation and made public China's decision to reduce its overall tariff level from 1996.

In his speech, President Jiang stated that the importance of the revitalization of developing countries to the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world should be recognized from the point of historical view. He pointed out that if the political resurgence of the developing countries can be viewed as a major feature of the international evolution in the second half of the 20th century, then their economic revitalization would be a key hallmark of the new world pattern in the 21st century.

Taking the new situation and the diverseness of the Asia and the Pacific region into account, President Jiang pointed out that APEC should be developed into a economic cooperation organization with distinct characteristics of the Asia-Pacific region. He also elaborated China's 5 basic positions:

(1) Achieving a sustainable economic development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large should be the fundamental objective of the cooperation;

(2) Efforts should be made to create a favorable external environment for economic growth of the developing members;

(3) The principles of unilaterism and voluntarism should be adhered to;

(4) It is necessary to give due consideration to existing differences and to keep the process of trade and investment liberalization at a carefully-measured speed;

(6) Trade and investment liberalization and economic and technical cooperation should be given equal emphasis.