Asia-Pacific leaders agreed to start establishing a free trade area in the world's fastest growing region with China warning that global economic recovery was far from certain and protectionism was rising.

  The weekend summit followed hot on the heels of a meeting of leaders of G20 advanced and emerging countries whose vague agreement gave little sense of a united approach to preventing further economic crises. The troubles still facing the global economy was underscored by the likelihood that Ireland will have to seek emergency funding because of deepening debt concerns. "As a result of the concerted action of the international community, the world economy is slowly recovering. Yet the recovery is neither firmly established nor balanced, and there exist significant uncertainties," Chinese leader Hu Jintao told leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).