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Hu seeks trade boost to fight crisis

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-24 07:33

Boosting multi-lateral trading, tackling climate change and responding better to natural disasters were some of the key proposals put forward by President Hu Jintao at the APEC economic leaders' meeting on Saturday.

The Chinese president also said the financial community must learn lessons from the recent economic crisis with a view to establishing a new international financial order that is fair and just.

China's President Hu Jintao arrives for the second plenary session at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima November 23, 2008. [Agencies]

One way to move forward, Hu said, was for APEC member economies to build consensus and promote sound development of the multilateral trading regime.

"We should have strong confidence in the multilateral trading regime and give strong support to the Doha Round of negotiations," he added.

With a tragic year for China, in which snowstorms lashed the southern regions and the May 12 earthquake claimed thousands of lives, Hu said natural disasters can also be better handled through international exchanges and cooperation.

Hu presented the APEC Principles on Disaster Response and Cooperation for the Asia-Pacific to the conference.

"It is also our hope that APEC members will consider carrying out long-term cooperation projects in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction so as to deepen APEC cooperation in disaster prevention and relief," he added.

Hu said corporate social responsibility should be strengthened through better regulation, and also said APEC members should take coordinated actions to ensure world food and energy security.

"We should, following the principle of common development, actively and effectively coordinate our policies and resort to a variety of joint measures to safeguard world food and energy security," he said.

Climate change was another area of great importance in which APEC member economies should also take up responsibilities, he stressed.

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Economic crisis

Hu said it is an urgent task for all countries and regions to deal effectively with financial risks, maintain international financial stability and promote world economic development.

The Chinese leader said all countries should take prompt and effective measures, enhance macroeconomic policy coordination, improve information sharing, help each other as much as possible.

Hu said each nation should employ all necessary fiscal and monetary means to stop the spread and development of the financial crisis.

He said the international community should learn from the ongoing financial crisis and reform the international financial system in a comprehensive, balanced, incremental and result-oriented way.

The new international financial order needed to be fair, just, inclusive and orderly to foster sound global economic development, Hu said.

From a long-term perspective, it is necessary to change models of economic growth that are not sustainable and to address the underlying problems in economies.

"We should also pay adequate attention to the impact of the financial crisis on the developing world and provide necessary support to relevant countries to help them maintain growth momentum," he pointed out.

APEC development

Hu said China is ready to work with other APEC members to promote its further development.

"We should maintain the nature of APEC as a forum for economic cooperation and its approach of conducting cooperation on a non-binding basis, as this best suits the diversity prevailing in the Asia-Pacific," he said.

APEC members should continue to promote balanced progress in economic and technical cooperation and trade and investment liberalization, he said.

"In particular, we should increase input in economic and technical cooperation to enhance capacity-building in developing members and narrow the development gap." Hu said.

Xinhua