Roadmap to set up Asia-Pac free trade zone to be launched

Beijing

CHINESE President Xi Jinping, in closing this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit as its chairman on Tuesday, announced an agreement to launch a roadmap for the setting up of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

He called the blueprint a "historic" step which reflected the "confidence and commitment of Apec members in promoting the integration of the regional economy".