APEC bloc should speed up free trade talks: Xi

BEIJING: The global economic recovery is unstable and nations in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc should speed up free trade talks to spur growth, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday.
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 , according to a news agency.