FTAAP not against existing free trade arrangements: Xi

BEIJING -- The proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) does not go against existing free trade arrangements in the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday.

Xi made the remarks when speaking at the dialogue between the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders and representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council.x "The FTAAP does not go against existing free trade arrangements, which are the potential pathways to realize the FTAAP goals," Xi said.

The FTAAP can be the "aggregation" of existing free trade arrangements, he said.

The aim of pushing forward the FTAAP process is to consolidate the regional integration and define long-term goals, he added.

Xi's statement came two days after a historic roadmap for the FTAAP has been sketched out at the ongoing APEC meetings.

Ministers of the APEC members on Saturday agreed to "launch and comprehensively and systemically push forward the FTAAP process."

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