Sticking to trade liberalization is necessary for APEC members to tackle the world financial crisis, Carlos Furche, head of the International Economic Relations of the Chilean Foreign Ministry told Xinhua in Lima on Thursday.

Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies, who have just concluded a two-day meeting in Lima, were aware of the harm of trade and investment protectionism and had voiced the necessity to maintain free trade, he said.

When previous economic crises struck, protectionism appeared time and again, the minister said, warning that protectionism can only worsen the already bad situation.

He called for more investment as an effective measure to boost economy. "There will be no development without investment, and unemployment will be on the rise if development fails, and people's living standard can not be guaranteed if unemployment prevails," he said.

All kinds of trade and investment protectionism should be rejected, he said, while at the same time urging to take measures to promote trade liberalization.

No country can solve the crisis alone, and therefore it is necessary for APEC members to make joint efforts to deal with the crisis.

Furche called on the resumption of the Doha Round of WTO talks, saying an agreement will help eliminate trade barriers and protectionism.

Furche said China's economic stimulus package, estimated at 4 trillion RMB (about 570 billion U.S. dollars), which was announced by its government recently, was "great news for the world."

Increasing China's domestic consumption would mean China would probably import more from the rest of the world, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2008)