Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Friday that China would like to discuss and make joint efforts with other countries to address major world economic challenges.

Hu, who arrived here from Moscow earlier in the day, put forward a three-point proposal to address challenges to global economic development in a key-note speech delivered at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

He said more than two years after the international financial crisis, the world economy was recovering slowly, with a weak foundation, many uncertainties and its deep impact still unsolved.

China was willing to actively discuss and solve the major issues in global economic development and meet the challenges together with other countries, he said.

The Chinese president said the world should first strengthen global economic governance and continue to advance the reform of the international financial system.

The international financial crisis not only dealt a heavy blow to the world economy and the economic development of all countries, but also highlighted the defects of the current international financial system and the deficiency of the global economic governance mechanism in dealing with crisis, he said.

The weight of emerging economies and developing countries in the global economy and their role in global governance was increasing, he said.

Therefore, a new global economic governance mechanism should mirror changes in the world economic pattern, follow the principle of mutual respect and collective decision-making, and increase the representation and voice of emerging economies and developing countries, he said.

"We should support and promote a bigger role for the Group of 20 (G20) in global economic governance, and boost the overall recovery and growth of the world economy," he said.

"We should actively perfect global economic governance, promote the building of a fair, just, inclusive and orderly international monetary financial system, oppose all forms of protectionism and push the international economic order toward a more just and reasonable development," he said.

Second, the world should accelerate the transformation of the economic development pattern and reasonably adjust the economic structure, Hu said.

All countries should deeply understand and follow the world development trend, adapt themselves to changes in the international economic environment, unswervingly transform the economic development pattern and adjust economic structures, he said.

Moreover, in that process, countries should learn from each other to make unremitting efforts for a strong, sustainable and balanced development of the world economy, he said.

Third, the world should give full play to the potential of scientific and technological achievements and speed up the integration of science and technology with the economy, the Chinese president said.

All countries should push for enhanced cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, promote industrialization of the achievements of science and technology, and promote global economic development that was driven more by scientific and technological innovation, he said.

On relations with Russia, Hu said China, as a friendly neighbor and strategic cooperative partner, always paid attention to and supported Russia's development and rejuvenation.

"We were glad to see that Russia carried out a series of effective measures in the face of the big impact of the international financial crisis," Hu said, adding that "the Russian economy has shown good momentum again."

The Chinese president hailed the achievements that Russia had made in adjusting its economic structure, promoting a comprehensive modernization strategy focusing on innovation, as well as in developing various enterprises, in addition to improving its people's living standard.

Hu said both China and Russia were the main emerging markets of the world. Sustained and stable development of the two countries would provide opportunities for each other's development and also be conducive to promoting the development of the world economy.

Thanks to joint efforts, China and Russia had become major trading partners with a robust revival of bilateral trade and economic cooperation in recent years, Hu said.

The two sides had agreed during this visit to boost bilateral trade, with the goals of reaching 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2015 and 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, he said of his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"We will deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of two-way investment, energy, nuclear energy, aerospace, aviation, science and technology, and finance and between local areas," Hu said.

The Chinese leader ended his speech with an outline of China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for socioeconomic development, which will take scientific development as the theme and accelerate the transformation of economic development pattern.

He said China would continue to uphold the banners of peace, development and cooperation, stick to an independent and self-ruled foreign policy of peace, unswervingly take the path of peaceful development and abide by an open strategy that was mutually beneficial.

China welcomed all countries, including Russia, to take part in China's development, share the opportunities that were generated by China's development, and jointly create a bright future, Hu said.

For his part, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who also took part in the forum, elaborated on Russia's development strategy and goals. He said all undertakings in Russia have been carried forward in a steady way since the formation of the Russian Federation 20 years ago.

Russia is committed to boosting modernization, improving the standard and quality of people's livelihood, and actively and effectively participating in international affairs, the Russian president said.

Hailing China as a major force in safeguarding world peace and stability, Medvedev stressed that the Russia-China strategic partnership of cooperation is very strong.

More than 4,000 delegates are attending the 15th forum in Russia's second largest city.

The forum was launched in 1997. This year's event focuses on the significance of the emerging markets in achieving global economic growth, and other major issues that Russia and the world face.