A new Asia-Pacific trade liberalisation framework will help boost integration throughout the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping said.

The 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) agreed to take steps to create a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), according to a joint communique issued after a two-day summit attended by state leaders in Beijing.

FTAAP is being championed by China and is seen by some as a diversion from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which is backed by the United States but excludes China.

Xi, addressing reporters at the close of APEC summit, also said that the member states agreed to make efforts to promote structural reform in the region.