Xi expressed sincere greetings and good wishes to the Papuan government and people on behalf of the Chinese Government and people.

'In recent years, thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, the great work of the Government and the enterprising people, Papua New Guinea has prospered in national development and its society has acquired a new look,' said Xi.

'I look forward to working with your leaders to consolidate mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and increase exchanges between people to take our bilateral ties to a new level', he added.

Xi's visit is the first of a Chinese head of State to this island of the Pacific after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1976.

Here, Xi will meet with the leaders of the eight island countries of the Pacific that have established diplomatic relations with China.

Papua New Guinea is the first stopover on Xi's current tour of Asia-Pacific, which will also take him to Brunei and the Philippines.

The APEC was founded in 1989 with the purpose of taking advantage of the growing interdependence of the economies of the region. The APEC region accounts for half of world trade and 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product.

According to Ambassador Ivan Pomaleu, president of APEC senior officials in 2018, the meeting of the agency takes place at a crucial time, both globally and regionally, amidst economic uncertainty and other challenges that threaten economic prosperity, integration and the stability of the region.

In Papua New Guinea, the leaders of the 21 economies of APEC are expected (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Korea, South, United States, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Vietnam,

Thailand and the Chinese territories of Taiwan and Hong Kong).