Asia-Pacific leaders including the US and Chinese presidents have pledged to reject trade protectionism and pursue a new strategy for growth after the world economic crisis.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders also said they would persist with hefty stimulus spending 'until a durable economic recovery has clearly taken hold'.
US President Barack Obama pressed Asian leaders at the weekend summit in Singapore to retool their export-led economies and rebalance world growth, or risk a 'drift from crisis to crisis'.
However, Mr Obama was subject to much criticism in Singapore over his perceived neglect of free trade.
In a concluding declaration, the leaders said: 'We firmly reject all forms of protectionism and reaffirm our commitment to keep markets open and refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services.'
'We cannot go back to 'growth as usual',' they added. 'We need a new growth paradigm. We need a fresh model of economic integration.
'We will pursue growth which is balanced, inclusive and sustainable, supported by innovation and a knowledge-based economy, to ensure a durable recovery that will create jobs and benefit our people.'
The summit's chairman, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, explained that sustainable growth meant working for an 'ambitious outcome' at Copenhagen climate talks next month.
But a hastily convened climate discussion in Singapore among key leaders, including Mr Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, failed to yield any breakthrough.
If thin on specifics, the APEC declaration was a nod to Mr Obama's demand that US consumers must no longer bear the brunt of stoking world demand, and that Asians must start to spend and not hoard their export earnings.
The US President noted that voracious US demand had for decades fuelled the growth of regional economies. But when crisis struck last year, the 'demand for Asian goods plummeted' and the global recession deepened.
'We cannot follow the same policies that led to such imbalanced growth,' Mr Obama said in summit remarks released by the White House.
'If we do, we will continue to drift from crisis to crisis, a failed path that has already had devastating consequences for our citizens, our businesses, and our governments,' he said.
