US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he supports the free market economic system, a move to seek support for his efforts to revive the ailing economy.

A man walks past the New York State Department of Labor in Bronx of New York, March 12, 2009. With layoffs spreading, the number of initial claims for jobless benefits rose last week, while the total number of people continuing to receive benefits set a record high, the government said Thursday. [Xinhua]

During a meeting with CEOs and other top leaders, Obama said he wants government to right the ship and then "let private enterprise do its magic."

"At these moments, government has stepped in not to supplant private enterprise, but to catalyze it, to create the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and ultimately to thrive," said the president.

He said his government must move quickly and aggressively on the most immediate threats to the American economy and financial stability -- jobs, housing and credit.

"And that's why we've already passed a recovery plan that will save and create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, more than 90 percent of which will be located in the private sector," he explained.

"That's why we've launched a housing plan that will help responsible families lower their monthly payments, a plan that's already helping responsible homeowners save money by refinancing their loans," he added.

Meanwhile, Obama vowed to enact tough, common-sense regulatory reforms, which he said will prevent a crisis like the current one never happening again.

"There are going to be a series of fairly complex issues around regulation in the financial markets which we believe is necessary," Obama told business leaders.

"But we are also very mindful we've got to do those regulatory reforms in a way that doesn't strangle innovation and creativity and entrepreneurship but deals with the systemic risks that obviously we were unprepared to deal with when this latest crisis occurred," he said.

"When I meet with the leaders of the other G-20 nations next month, I'll ask them to join us in these actions, because in an age when financial transactions often cross borders, global coordination is essential to safeguard against future crises," he added.

However, he also stressed his government believes the financial market reforms should not lead to a new "super-regulator."

"We think it is very important that there is coordination, not necessarily a super regulator," Obama said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2009)