Xi Wins Leaders’ Support for Road Map on Asia-Pacific Trade Pact

President Xi Jinping wrapped up a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders in Beijing with an agreement to press forward toward a regional free-trade pact that he says will be a historic achievement once realized.

Eight years after the idea was first proposed, Xi is pushing the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific as part of efforts to counter U.S. influence in the region. The Chinese leader has emphasized his nation’s growing economic clout throughout the forum and offered tens of billions of dollars to build infrastructure along key trade routes.

“We decided to kick off and advance the process in a comprehensive and systematic manner towards the eventual realization of the FTAAP,” a declaration by the 21 APEC leaders stated. Officials will undertake a strategic study of the pact and report back by the end of 2016, they said.

Competition between different trade plans underscored the jockeying for position between the U.S. and China at this week’s meetings as President Barack Obama seeks to re-balance U.S. economic and strategic interests to Asia. Obama welcomed China’s push for the free-trade deal, a day after he hailed a separate trans-pacific agreement that doesn’t include the world’s second-largest economy.

Technology deal

Separately, the US and China said they had made a “breakthrough” on eliminating tariffs on their technology products.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters in Beijing that the deal could lead to the “swift conclusion” of wider talks on global cuts in technology tariffs. This could lead to a drop in the price of products such as GPS devices, semi-conductors and medical equipment.

Mr Froman said the agreement in Beijing “shows how the US and China work together to both advance our bilateral economic agenda but also to support the multilateral trading system”.

MH17

On the sidelines of the summit, Australian PM Tony Abbott met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine in July.

Australians were among the 298 people who died on Flight MH17. Western nations say it was caused by a missile fired by pro-Russian rebels. Moscow says Ukrainian government forces were responsible.

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said the two leaders had agreed on the need for a genuine investigation into what happened.

Ties between the two Asian giants have been extremely tense because of a territorial row over disputed islands in the East China Sea.