Russia and China say they will push for a free-trade area in the Asia-Pacific region.
The presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, held talks on November 19 on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group in Lima, Peru.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders supported strengthening cooperation within APEC in a bid to establish a free-trade area in the region.
China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Xi as stressing the need for bilateral cooperation under the APEC framework in a bid to boost the bloc's contribution to regional and global economic growth.
The APEC meeting comes amid a protectionist mood in the United States following Donald Trump's presidential election victory, which is threatening to derail a trans-Pacific trade deal that excludes China, the world’s second-biggest economy.
