Lima  - Chinese leader Hu Jintao, addressing business leaders Friday in Lima ahead of the annual APEC Leaders' Meeting, said that the current economic crisis presents the world with a major challenge.

"The situation is very grim," Hu said.

The crisis has spread "from some areas of the world to the entire globe, from developed countries to emerging countries and from the financial sector to the real economy," he said.

Hu addressed the APEC CEO summit in Lima, ahead of the weekend's Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

He called the current setting a "critical juncture" and stressed the need to "encourage cooperation and preserve stability." (dpa)