SAN FRANCISCO: Pacific Rim leaders on Friday pledged support for reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to deliver a free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, inclusive, and predictable trade and investment environment.

Days of meetings involving APEC ministers and leaders were dominated by a summit on Wednesday between USPresident Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at cooling tensions between the world`s two largest economies, which have alarmed the region.

The APEC leaders reaffirmed their commitment to necessary reform of the WTO to improve all of its functions, including conducting discussions with a view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute set-tlement system accessible to all members by 2024,` said the declaration issued by the APEC chair.

Despite the frictions over the Ukraine and Middle East wars, the Sino-US talks will have brought some relief to APEC members concerned by a worsening trajectory in the rivalry between the superpowers, which are also the world`s largest economies.-Reuters