APEC 2015 ended with a vow to combat terrorism, yet the Summit refused to be distracted from its true goal – economic development. In the coming years, the United States, China, and the Association of Southeast Nations must compromise if they truly want to invest in both regional peace and economic development.

A free-trade agreement for the Asia-Pacific would capitalize on the capabilities and the diversity of APEC countries. As broached by China in 1996, an open economy in the Asia-Pacific is a step toward common development, prosperity and progress for the whole region.

Philippine efforts to revisit the historical value of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade (MAGT) and China's revival of the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) can be seen as national projects aimed at rekindling a deep historical relationship with the sea. Growing Sino-Latin American trade may encourage an extension of the MSR across the Pacific and also reignite the importance of MAGT.

Asian states will look at potential partners around the Pacific Rim and determine if they are ready to walk the walk or simply talk the talk. So far the lesson of Canada and Australia is that walking the walk requires sustained, strategic commitment, but has a big potential payoff. Australia has been taking concrete steps to solidify its relationship with Asia; Canada has been talking about it, and is only now starting to put into place an engagement program with substance.

As the two largest economies, China and the U.S. are trying to formulate a new-type of major-country relationship. The establishment of a free trade area should be an integral part of such relationship. This will be a challenging mission, but the rewards will be tremendous.

While the TPP is not attractive to several APEC economies because of its U.S. dominance, the proposed FTAAP, which embraces all of the 21 APEC economies, is meant to be an all-inclusive, all-win trade initiative that represents the largest single trade liberalization in history.

China has two key challenges in the years ahead. The first is to build a new, global rules-based system with the other major world power, the United States, that supplants the post-WWII order.

Although the US is firmly established in the region, many Pacific countries are concerned about US stability and consistency in policy. China’s recent confident actions have allowed for relations with ASEAN to grow and may have begun to act to supplant the US role. But do the two powers need to be competing or can they work in tandem?

Cai Penghong reviews the achievements attained at the 2013 APEC Summit in Bali, and the 8th East Asia Summit and concludes that, despite President Obama’s absence, a number of noteworthy developments and deals have been put into place.

In spite of the progress made at this week’s APEC and ASEAN meetings in Bali and Brunei respectively, there are still concerns that President Obama’s absence reduced U.S. influence in the region. Stephen Harner examines these developments and the potential for a “win-win” relationship between the US and China.