Chinese President Hu Jintao put forward a three-point proposal on Friday for cooperation among APEC members, urging them to contribute to the steady growth of the world and regional economy by giving full play to their own strengths and implementing policy measures.

In a speech at the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Busan, Hu said that since the beginning of this year, the world economy has maintained a sound momentum of growth with particularly robust growth and good prospects in the Asia-Pacific region.

"At the same time, some uncertainties in world and regional economic growth still exist and call for common response from us," said the Chinese president who arrived here Thursday.

Economic leaders from the 21 APEC economies are attending the meeting, which started in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan on Friday with the main theme of "Toward One Community: Meet the Challenge, Make the Change."

On top of the meeting's agenda are free trade, terrorism and avian influenza.

The Chinese president, in his speech entitled "Working Together in Closer Asia-Pacific Cooperation Toward a Harmonious Future," proposed that APEC members focus cooperation on three aspects.

First, they should work together to effectively address the problems of uneven economic development in the world.

To address the problem of uneven economic development, all parties are required to abide by the principle of responsibility sharing, strengthen policy dialogue and coordination and take common actions, Hu said.

"The developed members should provide assistance to the developing members and help them accelerate development," said the Chinese president.

Hu urged the APEC members to work together to create a fair, harmonious and open international economic environment so as to deal with the problems of uneven economic development in the world.

"Ways to resolve disagreements should be explored through dialogue and consultation, in accordance with universally-recognized international rules and in the spirit of mutual understanding and accommodation," Hu told APEC fellow economic leaders.

Second, they should build consensus to jointly promote the healthy development of the multilateral trading regime.

The multilateral trading regime is now at a critical junction, Hu said, adding that the success of the WTO Doha Round will have a bearing on the future of international trade as well as the immediate interests of the peoples in the Asia-Pacific countries and the world at large.

"We should focus on the central task of promoting development, strive to address market access and other issues of concern to the developing members, commit ourselves to realizing the goal of common development and create conditions for a balanced and orderly development of the world economy,"said the Chinese president.

"We should demonstrate sincerity, adopt a flexible and pragmatic approach, expand common ground, honor commitments and bridge differences in an effort to make the forthcoming 6th WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China, a success and promote the early and successful conclusion of the talks," Hu said at the meeting.

The WTO Doha Round of trade talks, first introduced at the fourth WTO biannual ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, have been stalled due to deep differences between the developed and developing members on market access, agriculture subsides and tariff structures. The push by APEC economic leaders to keep the momentum going is seen as important because the region represents nearly half of the world trade.

On trade agreement, Hu said both bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements are important channels for promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

"We should encourage free trade agreements that comply with WTO rules and push for coordinated development of bilateral and regional economic cooperation and the multilateral trading regime, " said the Chinese president.

Hu also called on APEC to play an active role in guiding the orderly development of free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region.

Third, coordination should be strengthened and joint actions taken to address hot-button issues.

The surging international oil price has exerted a negative impact on the development of the world economy, that of the developing countries in particular, Hu said.

Frequent occurrences of such natural disasters as tsunami and hurricane have resulted in heavy losses to the afflicted countries while the outbreak of avian flu has caused serious damage to some countries in this region, he added.

"We should not underestimate the negative impacts of such problems on the economic development and social stability in the region as well as in the world at large," the Chinese president warned.

"It requires common action to effectively respond to these problems as their causes and impacts are transboundary," he said.

The Chinese president also urged the APEC member economies to create and improve mechanisms for cooperation, encourage and support scientific and technological research and development, share information and experience, and carry out well-targeted programs for capacity building.

China hosted the APEC Workshop on the Development of Renewable Energy this year and will host the APEC Symposium on Emerging Infectious Diseases next year, Hu told the meeting.

"China will cooperate closely with all parties to improve the capacity of this region to prevent and respond to emergencies," Hu pledged.

During the first-day session of the two-day gathering, the APEC economic leaders exchanged views on economic and trade issues under the theme of "Advancing Freer Trade."

The economic leaders will meet with members of the APEC Business Advisory Council on Friday to hear their recommendations on key issues, such as the WTO's stagnant Doha Round of free trade talks.

Since its inception in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies, APEC has become a formidable regional forum acting as the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

APEC accounts for more than one-third of the world's population, about 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product and nearly half of world trade. It represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, having generated nearly 70 percent of global economic growth in its first 10 years.

APEC currently has 21 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The chairmanship rotates among its members, with South Korea holding the chair this year.

Source: Xinhua