APEC agrees to work on FTAAP

Experts say different trade pacts in region are not mutually exclusive

In what Chinese President Xi Jinping called a "historic step", Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members agreed on Tuesday to launch an effort to build a regional free trade framework.

Leaders of the 21 member economies agreed in Beijing to start work on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. Xi praised the agreement as a show of APEC's will to advance regional integration.