MOSCOW, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- As the main driving force of growth in the Asia-Pacific, China has served as a major source of dynamism within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Russian experts said.
This is proven by China's activity in regional cooperation, as well as by the important role Chinese businesses have played in all spheres of economic cooperation in the region, Andrey Belov, first deputy dean of the Faculty of Economics of St. Petersburg State University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
China clearly demonstrated its interest in developing partnership in the region, while Chinese businesses have huge influence in the processes of regional integration, said Belov.
At the 2015 APEC informal leader's meeting held in Manila, the Philippines, out of the total 800 companies present, nearly 150 were from China, he said.
China has the political clout to promote the cooperation between Russia and other countries not involved in APEC activities, as this joint work would serve the fundamental interests of countries in the region and around the world, Belov added.
China, which joined APEC in 1991, two years after its inception, has hosted APEC summits twice -- one after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the other amid the Ukraine crisis in 2014.
During the 2014 APEC summit in Beijing, APEC member economies pushed forward the process of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) by sketching out a historic road map for the FTAAP.
The meeting also adopted important documents for an integrated, innovative and interconnected Asia-Pacific.
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