The Apec host nation has ambitions to become one of the world’s top-three AI powers, but its economic fortunes face challenges from a rapidly ageing society, with its birthrate in 2024 the lowest in the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent were attending a session to discuss how to navigate the rapid take-up of AI and respond to the demographic changes shared by many of the countries in the region.

The 21-member Apec bloc accounts for 50% of global trade and 61% of world GDP.

“The Apec AI Initiative, proposed by South Korea, is the outcome of our strong will to transform a grand change into an opportunity,” Lee said in remarks at the beginning of the session.

Yesterday, Lee met Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang on the sidelines of the summit, where the US AI chipmaker announced partnerships with South Korean companies.

Lee said South Korea had also proposed a framework for the Apec region to jointly cope with what he termed a demographic crisis.

“The changing demographic structure represents a serious and significant crisis that impacts all aspects of society, including economic growth, the labour market, childcare, and welfare,” he said.

“Therefore, it is even more difficult to address with partial and individualised responses,” he said.