Apec leaders hold summit in Japanese city of Yokohama
Baku, November 13 (AZERTAC). The leaders of 21 countries are preparing to meet in the Japanese city of Yokohama for the 21st Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.
The group hopes to develop ways of increasing free trade in the region.
The meeting follows a G20 summit in Seoul, which highlighted disagreements among members over trade imbalances.
Speaking ahead of the Yokohama summit, US President Barack Obama renewed his pledge that world leaders must work toward a balanced economic recovery.
At a business leaders` meeting in Japan, Mr Obama restated his goal of boosting US trade in Asia, adding that healthy competition need not cause rifts between nations.
"There`s no need to view trade, commerce or economic growth as zero-sum games, where one country always has to prosper at the expense of another," he said.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Hu Jintao reaffirmed Beijing`s commitment to gradual currency reform and balanced trade.
Russia`s Dmitry Medvedev and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard are also among the world leaders taking part in the summit.
Collectively, the Apec countries account for more than half the world`s economic output.
They are keen to develop closer economic integration and have pledged to work towards a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) to link up their economies.
However the BBC Roland Buerk in Yokohama says the talks could be overshadowed by tension between Japan and China.
In September the Japanese coastguard detained a Chinese trawler captain whose boat collided with patrol ships near a chain of islands which both countries claim.
The incident has provoked angry responses on both sides.
It was not clear whether Mr Hu and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan would meet at the summit.
Ties between Japan and Russia have also been embroiled in a row, after Mr Medvedev visited one of four islands which both Russia and Japan claim.
Nine Apec members have just attended the G20 summit in Seoul, where the major economics powers agreed to find ways to tackle trade imbalances.
The summit was overshadowed by deep differences between China and the United States, over currency valuation and trade and made little progress on the core issue of how to avoid the competitive devaluation of regional currencies.
