On November 15, 2023, Kevin Xu — Chairman of MEBO Group and Co-Chair of the APEC 2023 Host Committee — was invited to a private dinner with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to discuss arrangements for Peru's upcoming APEC host year. The dinner was hosted by Richard Adkerson, Chairman and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan; private dinners hosted by CEOs are an APEC tradition, and during the summit Xu was also responsible for the private dinner of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Over nearly three hours, Xu spoke with President Boluarte, the incoming APEC Chair, and the APEC CEO Summit Chair, sharing San Francisco's hosting experience and discussing plans for the 2024 gathering.
This year, the APEC rotating chairmanship passes to Peru — the country's third time hosting the regional economic forum. The previous two host years (2008 and 2016) attracted more than US$9.4 billion in investment. Ambassador Carlos Chavez-Taffur of Peru's 2024 APEC chairmanship working group noted that the chairmanship gives the country a strategic position that will support post-pandemic economic recovery.