Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members started an annual meeting here Saturday to explore ways of fighting the global financial crisis and achieving a sustainable world economic recovery.

At the two-day meeting, leaders of the 21-member APEC will exchange views on ways of overcoming the financial crisis, promoting a sustainable recovery in the post-crisis world, and strengthening the global multilateral trading system, according to the host Singapore.

Under the theme of "Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region," the participants will also discuss issues of accelerating regional economic integration, easing burdens on doing business within and between member economies and increasing the connectivity and efficiency of supply chains.

APEC leaders will discuss "how economies could reposition themselves and grow again," said Michael Tay, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the eve of the meeting.

"The leaders will talk about the state of the world, what is happening and whether APEC is ready to address some of these issues directly or indirectly through the G20 (Group of 20) or through the WTO (World Trade Organization)," Tay said.

The APEC official said China had been an extremely constructive player in and a great contributor to APEC.

According to Chinese officials accompanying President Hu to attend the meeting, the Chinese president will elaborate China's stance on the battle against the financial crisis and the global economic recovery, China's position on the challenges posed by climate change, food and energy security and China's view on APEC's future development.

Hu will also exchange views with APEC economic leaders on trade protectionism, investment facilitation and regional economic integration, the Chinese officials said.

Since APEC's inception in 1989, APEC's total trade has grown 395 percent, significantly outpacing the rest of the world. During the same period, the GDP (in purchasing power parity terms) in the APEC region has tripled, while the GDP in the rest of the world has less than doubled.

APEC's 21 member economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

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