PORT MORESBY  – Leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific economies have failed to agree a joint declaration at the end of their two-day summit, a Chinese official said Sunday, amid a row between Beijing and Washington over trade.

“The leaders agreed that instead of a traditional leaders’ declaration, they would leave it to the hands of PNG as the chair to issue a chair statement on behalf of all the members to capture the consensus,” senior Chinese diplomat Zhang Xiaolong said at the close of the two-day summit in Papua New Guinea.