China confirmed its economic powerhouse status at the weekend by concluding deals with poorer Asian states and with Russia on the eve of the Asia-Pacific economic summit.

Although the US and Japan are among the states attending, their Chinese hosts took the limelight by promising $40 billion (£25.2bn) to help Asian nations improve trade links.

President Xi Jinping made the pledge in a meeting with leaders of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

He followed that up by signing several accords with Russian President Vladimir Putin to boost energy co-operation, including an understanding to develop a second major route to supply China with Russian natural gas following an initial $400bn (£252bn) deal in May.

The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) conference starts in Beijing this morning.

Beijing has launched a series of initiatives this year and its latest effort, the Silk Road Fund, will finance infrastructure and co-operation in industry and finance to link Asian economies, said Mr Xi.

“Efforts by a single or several countries are far from adequate,” he said.

“Only by building extensive partnerships where all will think and work in unison can we expect to achieve positive results.”

China and 20 other Asian governments launched a $50bn (£31.5bn) bank last month to finance infrastructure in the region, despite Washington’s complaints that it was an unneeded duplication of work by the World Bank.

Beijing is providing most of the start-up capital.

Linking Asian countries is “not merely about building roads and bridges or making linear connection of different places on surface,” said Mr Xi.

“More importantly, it should be a three-way combination of infrastructure, institutions and people-to-people exchanges and a five-way progress in policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, trade link, capital flow and understanding among peoples.”

President Xi said yesterday that China’s economy is shifting to a “new norm” of slower but more stable growth with the resilience to overcome any bumps in the road.

He forecast that China’s outward investment will exceed $1.25 trillion (£0.79 trn) over the next 10 years.

The country will also import more than $10 trn (£6.3 trn) worth of goods and send more than 500 million tourists abroad over the next five years.