Hu made the call, which highlighted China's greater emphasis on the non-state sector and its growing focus on ties to the developing world, while addressing several hundred business representatives gathered in Hanoi.

"To narrow the development gap and promote common development requires active participation of the business community," Hu said.

Enterprises could provide capital, technology and other help critical to accelerating growth in developing countries, said the president, in Vietnam for the annual summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

"I call on you to give more priority to exploring business opportunities and expanding market share in developing countries," he said.

"Both the Chinese government and other governments are ready to provide you with all necessary support and facilitation."

The call for greater business involvement was significant coming from the leader of a nation that has all but abandoned its past attachment to communist economic principles, according to observers.

"The proposal does elevate even further the role of businesspeople in a country which is supposedly still communist," said Ang Cheng Guan, a specialist on Sino-Vietnamese ties at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

"Communist China is only notionally communist now," he said.

China is boosting its profile among poor countries via attention-grabbing moves such as a decision to host a recent Beijing summit attended by leaders of over 40 African nations.

China is also hastily becoming an important lender to impoverished nations, a trend that makes some western governments worry they are gradually losing influence in poverty-stricken economies in Africa and elsewhere.

"We should increase official development assistance with no strings attached to developing countries," Hu said.

Western criticism of China's role in Africa has typically zeroed in on a practice of allegedly extending loans without any conditions in terms of better governance or curbs against corruption.