(FTAAP)。President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said China will significantly reduce restrictions on foreign investment and called for the establishment of…

(FTAAP)。President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said China will significantly reduce restrictions on foreign investment and called for the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP)

"We will step up reforms in the foreign investors management system, substantially cut restrictions on market access for foreign investment, improve intellectual property protection, and foster an open, transparent, fair and highly efficient market environment," Xi told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO meeting in Manila

Xi said Asia-Pacific economies must "participate fairly in and fully coordinate" free trade arrangements to boost the integration of regional economies and improve openness and inclusiveness in the region

New free trade arrangements continue to surface, but they have caused concerns over the potential of fragmenting regional economies, Xi said, while seeking to accelerate the establishment of the FTAAP, an initiative proposed at the APEC meeting in Beijing last year

Xi said China is part of the Asia-Pacific region, and will continue to pursue open and inclusive regional cooperation through initiatives such as the "Belt and Road" and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), according to a tran of his speech published by the Xinhua News Agency

Experts said Xi’s comments on the FTAAP are aimed at the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), of which the world’s second-largest economy has been excluded

"The TPP is relatively exclusive so far and China wants a more open and inclusive Asian market," said Xu Hongcai, director of the Economic Research Department under the China International Economic Exchanges

Xi also said world leaders at the summit agree that while the global economy enjoys a "stable" recovery, it still lacks a "solid" foundation and continues to face challenges, and Asia-Pacific countries must take the lead to boost economic growth

"Facing turbulent currents … all economies in the Asia-Pacific region must take on the task, pull together and strive to push the global economy forward," Xi said

Since many countries in the region haven’t achieved a high-income status, focusing on economic development should still be the priority of APEC meetings, said Huang Wei, a director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

"For APEC, instead of getting bogged down by politics, focusing on economics may be a better option," said Huang