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More regional cooperation needed, Hu says

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-25 09:43

President Hu Jintao on Sunday urged members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to boost regional economic integration and said China is ready to conduct research on an Asia-Pacific free trade area.

In an address to the 16th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which ended in the Peruvian capital Lima on Sunday, Hu said the process of regional economic integration is developing continuously.

China is ready to work with other APEC members to push forward the process and to conduct research on such issues as the prospect of an Asia-Pacific free trade area, he said.

Hu also met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday, on the sidelines of the summit.

China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination at a time when the global political and economic structures are undergoing the most profound changes since the end of the Cold War, Hu told Medvedev.

Medvedev agreed and called for the country's finance ministries to hold a meeting to discuss how to implement the results of the G20 summit held in Washington, and those from the APEC meeting.

Hu left Lima on Sunday and arrived in Greece yesterday, the final leg of his five-nation tour.

In the final declaration issued on Sunday, the 21 Pacific Rim nations and regions assured the world that the global financial crisis could be quelled in 18 months, although they provided few details of how that would be achieved.

"We are convinced that we can overcome this crisis in a period of 18 months," the leaders said in the statement.

"We have taken urgent and extraordinary steps to stabilize our financial sectors and strengthen economic growth."

The words were added to a declaration the leaders had signed on Saturday. Delegates from several countries said the changes were made overnight at the request of Peruvian President Alan Garcia.

The 18-month timeline fits with a calculation by the International Monetary Fund, which forecast developed economies will grow barely 0.1 percent next year, and that the world will emerge from the crisis the following year.

The 21 APEC members also pledged not to erect new protectionist barriers, and to jump-start stalled World Trade Organization talks.