On May 13 to 14, the Plenary Meeting of the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy 2026 (PPWE) was successfully held at the Shanghai Expo Center. Li Junkai, Secretary-General of the Zhongguancun Global High-Level Think Tank Alliance (ZGCTA) and Director of the Center for International and Regional Cooperation at the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, was invited to attend the meeting and delivered a keynote speech at the panel session on "Promoting Entrepreneurship and Employment: Empowering Women in the Economy". She shared China's solutions and practical achievements, and promoted deeper and more solid cooperation in digital empowerment and inclusive development for women in the Asia-Pacific region.

This meeting is an important supporting event of the 2026 APEC China Year. It conducted in-depth discussions around three key themes: Embracing the Digital Era, Empowering Women in the Green Transition, and Promoting Entrepreneurship and Employment. Simultaneously, it held Drafting Session of the 2026 WEF Statement, a research prize award ceremony, and related events, which helped build consensus and consolidate achievements for APEC cooperation in the field of women and the economy. The meeting brought together representatives from APEC economies, experts from international organizations, and leaders from academia and industry to discuss collaborative development paths for women's economic empowerment.

Group Photo

Li Junkai delivered her keynote speech titled Digital Technology Ushers in a New Chapter for Women's Employment and Entrepreneurship in the Asia-Pacific Region, systematically elaborating on the urgency and inevitability of digital empowerment for women in the Asia-Pacific. Drawing on authoritative data from the World Bank, UN Women, and the Asian Development Bank and other leading international organizations, she conducted an in-depth analysis of the practical challenges posed by the digital divide and revealed the enormous potential of women's digital empowerment for regional economic growth. She proposed four actions to dismantle barriers to women's economic participation: building inclusive digital infrastructure, launching tiered and classified digital skills training, promoting gender-friendly digital finance and marketing platforms, and improving policy and institutional frameworks for digital inclusion. She also called for deepening multi-stakeholder cooperation under the APEC framework to jointly build a long-term ecosystem for women's digital empowerment in the Asia-Pacific, unleashing women's potential for innovation and entrepreneurship through digital technology and narrowing gender development gaps.

Li Junkai Delivering Keynote Speech

As a think tank expert with extensive experience in APEC multilateral cooperation, Li Junkai has led her team to continuously focus on gender equality, scientific and technological innovation, and women's digital empowerment. She has shared China's experience at multiple APEC meetings in Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, and other economies, and led the implementation of several APEC-funded projects, promoting the transformation of China's practices into regional public goods for the Asia-Pacific. Her participation in the Shanghai meeting further consolidated China's leading role in APEC's women and the economy agenda, accumulating practical achievements and contributing think tank strength to the 2026 APEC China Year.

Looking ahead, ZGCTA will continue to leverage the APEC platform to deepen partnerships with various economies, international organizations, and the private sector. It will advance practical initiatives such as women's digital skills training, experience sharing, and policy alignment, empowering women's development through digital innovation and building a prosperous Asia-Pacific through open cooperation, thus injecting lasting impetus into regional gender equality and high-quality development.

(Text and Photos by ZGCTA Secretariat Office)