World leaders began arriving in the Peruvian capital of Lima on Friday for the annual forum of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, amid tight security.

Before the main summit on Saturday, the APEC CEO summit was launched on Friday morning.

The CEO summit gathered senior business people and political leaders from major economies including China, the US and Australia.

This year's meeting is being held under the theme "Growth, Equity, and Sustainable Development: Challenges for APEC."

The APEC CEO Summit has been held each year since 1996 and was established to enable business leaders to interact with APEC leaders during Leaders' Week.
Peruvian President Alan Garcia and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key were among the key speakers on Friday.

Addressing the summit, Garcia promoted free trade across the region and across the world.

"The Peruvian people know that through world markets, and through alliances with other companies and countries around the world, they have an open road to well-being, growth and employment."

New Zealand's newly elected prime minister John Key reiterated the importance of concluding stagnated trade talks within this year to overcome the current financial crisis.

"A failure to follow through in Geneva and deliver the results we need would represent nothing short of political failure. Now is most definitely not the time for an individual country to allow the worsening domestic economy to lead to a retreat from global trade and engagement."

On Wednesday, Peru and China wrapped up talks for a free trade agreement, bolstering Beijing's growing links with Latin America.

This year's APEC summit is expected to focus mainly on the global economic crisis.