Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged further economic opening on Saturday as leaders of Asia-Pacific countries sought new free trade options following Donald Trump's election as U.S. president on promises to scrap or renegotiate trade deals.
All eyes were on China at this year's APEC summit in Peru just over a week after Trump's surprise victory in the United States dashed hopes of the largest-ever U.S.-proposed trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), coming to fruition.
U.S. President Barack Obama has championed the TPP as a way to counter China's rise, but he has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the deal, signed by 12 nations in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region, excluding China. Without U.S. approval, the current agreement cannot be implemented.