It is a historic step in the direction to establish the APFTA, said Xi at a press conference at the conclusion of the summit of 21 heads of State and Government, who met in nine facilities created for that major meeting on Yanki Lake, on the outskirts of Beijing.

According to the Chinese president, this decision would lead to integration at a new and higher level, would benefit the economies that are in different stages of development, and would boost the growth of the member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC).

Another agreement reached at the summit, which was inaugurated on Monday night with a ceremony at Beijing's pool complex, known as the Water Cube, was to establish a network to enforce the law to strengthen cooperation against corruption in the region, capture fugitives and recover the stolen funds.

In that regard, mechanisms were created to hold regular contacts and cooperate in enforcing the law, facilitating and sharing information, building mutual trust and investigating cases of corruption, bribes, money laundering and illegal trade.

In addition, the 22nd APEC Summit, held in the year of the forum's 25th anniversary, approved a project to promote connectivity until 2025, the deadline to expand physical, institutional and people-to-people connection, Xi said.

According to the president, the document shows the decision to invest in the expansion of Asia-Pacific connectivity and to get more funds to develop the infrastructure and end the financial bottleneck through public-private association.

Those initiatives will facilitate business travels, tourism and educational exchange among the APEC countries, so that ordinary people can benefit from that progress, he noted.

At the Summit, Xi added, the leaders agreed to work together to fight the Ebola epidemic and to make efforts for the African countries to be more capable of fighting and controlling the disease effectively.

The declaration of the APEC leaders informed that the next Summit of that regional economic forum will be held next year in the Philippines.(kh/pl)