Leaders of member economies pose for a group photo while wearing typical ponchos from Peru, during a break in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, November 23, 2008.[Agencies]

The leaders also gave their backing to drastic action to stimulate lending and spending. They said free trade and higher government spending were keys to achieving their goal.

The leaders of the 21 APEC economies also agreed not to adopt new trade barriers for a year and called for better regulation of the financial industry.

With the Lima meeting now concluded, Singapore will host the next APEC forum which will mark the organization's 20th anniversary.

Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean Prime Minister, said, "We look forward to building on the firm achievements which have been made so far, and working with all the other members of APEC in order to take the organization another step forward in our common endeavor."

The 21 APEC member economies presented a united front and vowed to increase cooperation in the future. With their timeline now set for getting the global economy back on track, they'll hope to be well down that road by the time they meet again next October.

(CCTV November 25, 2008)