Top officials from the Asia-Pacific region were Thursday to urge joint efforts to overcome the world economic crisis and try to breathe new life into stalled global trade talks.

The trade and diplomatic officials were meeting in Peru's capital to prepare a weekend leaders' summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum with the economic issues highest on the agenda.

Chinese President Hu Jintao was already in town, having arrived Wednesday, and was scheduled to meet Peruvian lawmakers and entrepreneurs.

As ministers finalized the agenda of the APEC summit, several emphasized the need to kick-start the Doha trade talks, which hit a dead-end in July, in order to counter a global slowdown that is even affecting China, Asia's economic powerhouse.

They were united on "the importance of avoiding protectionism and the importance of moving ahead with the Doha round," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab told reporters Wednesday.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he also saw impetus for new efforts to revive global trade in the face of dispiriting economic news across the developed and developing world.

"The time has come for the Doha round to be brought to a conclusion, and that I think is the main topic of conversation for APEC this week," Smith told reporters.

Japanese trade minister Toshihiro Nikai also called for concerted action.

"Usually, interests are often diverse in such a big gathering, but since we have a strong sense of crisis, we are all united and heading toward the same direction," he said.

Concerning trade talks, "we renewed our determination to take action in line with the strong message sent at the (Group of 20) summit," said Nikai.

In Washington, White House official Dan Price said President George W. Bush hoped fellow APEC leaders would back a declaration by G20 leaders last weekend that stressed commitment to free trade.

Several nations, including the United States, Japan, China and Russia, are members of both the G20 -- which includes the world's biggest industrialized and developing nations -- and APEC.

With trade the focus of the APEC gathering, many eyes are on Bush, who is making his last scheduled trip abroad to attend.

Among a swathe of bilateral meetings taking place, one between Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was likely to be watched closely, given the depths US-Russian relations are plumbing.

Medvedev's effort to pursue ties with Cuba and Venezuela, notable adversaries of the United States on Washington's doorstep, was seen as a pointed challenge to US dominance in Latin America.

After visiting Peru, the Russian leader was to go on to Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba.

Hu meanwhile was to meet entrepreneurs and address Peru's parliament on Thursday, emphasizing China's growing role in a region where it has traditionally had a low profile.

In an interview this week to Peru's El Comercio newspaper, Hu hailed growing trade and welcomed that "a number of Latin American and Caribbean nations have offered their understanding and support to China regarding Taiwan and Tibet."

The Doha-round talks failed at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva because of a disagreement between the United States and India over cotton, something that officials around the world hope to overcome given the scale of the current economic crisis.

Bush's presence was expected to stir protests, with Peru's main labor union threatening a demonstration against him on Friday.

Security, though, was heavy for the summit.

Some 39,000 police were deployed in Lima and another 60,000 officers were on full alert across the rest of the country, which is still haunted by a bloody Maoist insurrection in the 1980s and 1990s.