When the leaders of Asia-Pacific economies sit down in Beijing next week discussing a way out for fueling the regional growth engine, they should seek a pragmatic, innovative approach of cooperation.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a platform that groups the world's largest and fast-growing economies, should play a pivotal role in regional sustained growth as the shadow of world economic slowdown lingers on.

It is time for the organization to take initiatives to reshape its
framework and release more energy of regional economies.

Looking back, as the European countries in the 1990s were aiming for a highly integrated community, say, the European Union, the Pacific Rim economies could but set up a loosely-organized forum to push for regional integration.

The APEC, in the eyes of some people, is but a forum with a basket of non-obligatory declarations, initiatives and roadmaps, and it is a regional arrangement born to be a compromise for economically unequal Pacific Rim members.

This is because the organization is a mix of both the richest countries and the poorest ones; of both the most populous continent and the sparsely populated islands; and of both the countries on the wheels and the tribes on the trees.

The incredibly unbalanced economic structure resulted in a seemingly makeshift arrangement rather than a strict trade arrangement like the EU.

Now, as the financially mired European Union is striving to mend its system, the Asia Pacific's wisdom has begun to pay off. Recovery in the wake of economic slowdown is picking up in the Pacific Rim, though not that solid yet.

However, a gradual, flexible way in regional integration is not tantamount to a "talk only" tactics or even playing the closed-door "club politics."

Since the Doha Round has stalled, a variety of bilateral or multilateral trade arrangements propped up. Compared with a unified regional cooperative agenda, however, they're rather fragmented.

Some economies even tend to turn the open dialogue on free trade into a club that requires "access card" to better fit their own calculations, which is harmful to the regional sustained growth, especially for developing economies.

Now, China has proposed the study of establishing the Free Trade Area for Asia Pacific (FTAAP), a centerpiece among the APEC's initiatives to create a broadly representative cooperative mechanism.

The proposal is a promise for the shared prosperity for all the APEC members, and the path to it remains the open, pragmatic and inclusive approach by which the organization has made headway over the past 25 years.

Also, an innovative cooperation concept shall be translated into the APEC framework to keep it in pace with the change of the world industry landscape.

A new mechanism is in need to sharpen the region's competitive edge by lifting its profit-making ability in global industry chain.

A traditional trade theory says a country that sells more gains more benefit, but now it's time to think twice.

Think when you hold an iPhone. The iOS system is developed in America but the screen and cells manufactured in South Korea, and chips probably in Japan. It is Chinese workers that assemble them with home-grown phone shells, data links and protective films.

Over 80 percent of Chinese mobile phones are exported and all those belongs to China's export share. It is estimated that China earns only several dollars for an iPhone that sells 200 to 300 dollars at factory price.

However, most trade policies are applied only on the borders, either by tariff or non-tariff measures. China's initiative on global value chains (GVCs) is expected to provide APEC members the capacity to monitor each links of the value chain to enlarge and improve them.

China has taken actions along the complicated GVCs. Now, a South Korean mobile phone manufacturer in China would meet no quota limitations if it imports parts from its own country.

The APEC platform is not a closed club with one-for-all criteria. Under its framework, less developed economies need encouragement and incentives to catch up.

China's large economic size and robust growth can serve as a source of confidence for APEC members. Its reform pledge and on-going economic restructuring will change its position in the value chain, while the resulting vigor and efficiency will help drive other APEC economies that are closely linked with China in the chain.

In fact, only when the development gap among APEC members narrows, the APEC goal for deeper trade facilitation becomes practicable.

China is willing to build more infrastructures in order to lay a physical foundation for regional prosperity. The infrastructure investment is a priority in the "one belt and one road" plan China launched in 2013 to promote cooperation among Asian economies.

Plus, China's latest effort to improve the regional infrastructure and connectivity is the advocation of building the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The bank is widely welcomed by economies in the APEC areas.

It is reasonable to believe the Beijing meetings a landmark in APEC history that will reshape the group's framework and bring sustained prosperity for the region.