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 Speaking at this year's APEC summit in Beijing, Xi said the
21-member forum had agreed that economic integration was the
"driving force" behind sustained strong growth and APEC "should
continue to play a leading and coordinating role in pushing forward
this process".
APEC, which includes the United States, China, Japan, South Korea,
Indonesia and Canada, groups countries which account for 40 percent
of the world's population, 54 percent of its economic output and 44
percent of trade.
Xi urged members to speed up talks on a trade liberalization
framework called the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP)
that is being pushed by Beijing. APEC had approved work towards the
establishment of FTAAP, which Xi said was a "historic step".
"Currently, the global economic recovery still faces many unstable
and uncertain factors. Facing the new situation, we should further
promote regional economic integration and create a pattern of
opening up that is conducive to long-term development," Xi said.
"We should vigorously promote the Asia-Pacific free trade zone,
setting the goal, direction and roadmap and turn the vision into
reality as soon as possible."
Some see a proposed study on the FTAAP plan, which will eventually
be presented to APEC leaders for approval, as a way to divert
attention from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade
agreement backed by the United States.
China is not part of the TPP and has not been enthusiastic about the
initiative. Beijing fears that the TPP is being used by Washington
to either force it to open markets by signing up or else isolate it
from other regional economies as trade is diverted to TPP
signatories.
The TPP is widely seen as the economic backbone of U.S. President
Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia, what some experts view as an attempt
to balance China's rise by establishing a larger U.S. presence in
the region.
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U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters there was
significant momentum toward building the TPP.
"All the countries are very focused on doing that, but we want to
make sure that we get it right," he said.
Business leaders attending the APEC forum have been looking for
signs of progress on the TPP, which had been stalled since
September, especially as China continues to push for the FTAAP.
Xi was quoted by state news agency Xinhua on Monday as saying that
FTAAP "does not go against existing free trade arrangements which
are potential pathways to realise FTAAP's goals".
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed China's efforts this
year on crafting a roadmap for the FTAAP scheme.
"Looking beyond TPP, we also have in sight the realisation of FTAAP
that will create an even bigger market," Abe told a news conference.
"At this APEC summit, we were able to create a roadmap for that."
Efforts must also be made to regain trust in World Trade
Organisation talks, which are "endangered due to opposition from a
small number of members," Abe told a morning session of the APEC
forum, according to Japan's foreign ministry.
(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Koh Gui Qing, Leika Kihara,
Matt Spetalnick and Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)
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