The participants held discussions under the central theme of looking at sustainable economic development from a gender perspective and focused on several issues including implications of economic globalization and trade liberalization for women, women-owned micro-entreprises and SMEs as well as responsible corporate governance and business practices. The meeting adopted Statement and Recommendations which was then submitted to the APEC SME Ministers Meeting.

The Chinese delegation participated actively in all programs of the Meeting. Mme. Gu addressed the opening ceremony as representative of the host of last WLN Meeting. She briefed the participants of women's situation in China and the role played by Chinese businesswomen. She said Chinese women played a key role in national development and women entrepreneurs developed very fast. She stressed the need to study globalization from a gender respective and to integrate gender concerns into the formulation and implementation of sustainable development policies and programs. During the meeting, Mme. Gu held talks with Mme. Patricia Espinosa, President of Mexico National Women's Institute and Mme. Westaway, President of The International Alliance of Women. Both parties expressed their hope for strengthened contacts and cooperation. Miss Annie Wu and Ms. Li Xinyu, Manager of Core-net Technology Corp also spoke at the meeting and shared their experiences of starting and developing women's businesses. Members of the delegation took an active part in the drafting of the Statement and Recommendations and in WLN business meetings. Hong Kong SAR and Chinese Taipei also sent representatives to the meeting.

Major suggestions in the Statement and Recommendations include: WLN recommends that APEC undertake initiatives and projects to evaluate and respond to the implications of globalization and trade liberalization on women and the recognition and acceptance of professional credentials across the APEC region; recommends APEC increase women's access to ICT-based education and training; WLN recommends that APEC support the inclusion of a gender perspective in the WTO New Round and Regional Trading Arrangements in the APEC region particularly in such areas as agriculture and the service industry; recommends APEC enable the protection of intellectual property rights; to increase women's access to micro-finance and business development services; WLN recommends a permanent sub-group be created in the SMEWG to address micro-finance and micro-enterprise issues and recommends that APEC develop and adopt guidelines for responsible corporate governance as well as focus on the implementation of transparency in government procurement, etc.

The 8th WLN meeting will be held in Thailand from July 30 to Aug. 3 in 2003.

Mme. Gu Xiulian addressed the opening ceremony of APEC Women Leaders Network Meeting 2002.

Chinese participants at APEC WLN Meeting 2002 sang and danced with other participants together.