APEC's fiscal adjustments

Wednesday's meeting of finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing came a day after fresh data according to which growth in the host country China hit a five-year low in the third quarter, against the backdrop of slow recovery in many other regions in the world.

"Global economic recovery remains difficult, with downside risks still existing," Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said in his opening address to the forum,

He added the Asia-Pacific region was facing challenges as major developed economies had to adapt to the US Federal Reserve's winding down of its vast bond purchasing program it had put in place to cushion the impact of the global financial crisis.

Summit around the corner

But APEC ministers said they were confident the region as a whole would be able to remain the major driving force for global growth despite the current problems.

Zhang made a point of emphasizing that the 21 APEC economies accounted for 40 percent of the world's population, 70 percent of the global GDP and 46 percent of world trade. He said ministers were discussing infrastructure investment programs to fuel growth as well as taxation issues.

APEC members include nations from Asia, Oceania and North and South America, featuring heavyweights such as the US, China, Japan and Russia.

Wednesday's meeting came ahead of the group's annual summit next month when Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to host US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russian President Vladimir Putin and many others.

hg/ng (AP, dpa)