"Free trade is crucial to stimulate economic recovery," said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the opening ceremony of the 15th summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Wednesday.

Ban said developing nations are suffering most from the global financial crisis and the impact will likely to be deepened in the future. He also mentioned that rise of trade protectionism will undermine global economic growth and the trend of the rise must be countered.

During his speech, he also called for disarmament among developing countries. he said NAM commits itself to prevent non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons, and this will promote the global nuclear non-proliferation.

More than 50 heads of state from developing countries gathered at the 15th NAM summit to tackle major international and regional issues.

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was founded in 1961, and China became the observer country of the organization in 1992.

(XHTV July 16, 2009)