Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2013 in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, April 7, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for Asian countries to maintain peace and stability, and cooperate better with a sense of community.

Asian countries need to increase mutual trust and work together to ensure durable peace and stability in the region, Xi said when delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2013 held in Boao, a coastal town in south China's Hainan Province.

Asia needs to "enhance mutual understanding, build consensus, and enrich and deepen cooperation so as to strike a balance among the interests of various parties and build mechanisms that bring benefits to all," Xi said. The global economy has entered a period of profound readjustment and its recovery remains elusive. The international financial sector is fraught with risks, and protectionism of various forms is on the rise, Xi said.

He urged to follow the trend of the times, keep on the right direction, stick together in times of difficulty and ensure that development in Asia and the rest of the world reaches new highs.

While emerging as an important engine driving world economic recovery and growth, the continent needs to transform and upgrade its development model, adjust the economic structure, make development more cost effective and make life better for its people, he said.

Sustaining development is still of paramount importance to Asia, because only development holds the key to solving major problems and difficulties it faces, he said. "Achieving common development for all countries remains an uphill battle."

As a non-governmental and non-profit international organization founded in 2001, the BFA works to promote regional economic integration and bring Asian countries closer to their development goals.

The 2013 forum focuses on the theme of "Asia Seeking Development for All: Restructuring, Responsibility and Cooperation."

This is the first time Xi, who became Chinese president in March, has attended a multilateral diplomatic meeting in China.