MEXICO CITY - China can help to drive the development of emerging Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members through technological cooperation, a Mexican expert has told Xinhua.

"This is undoubtedly a historic need that can improve ties in the region," said Professor Sergio Martinez at the Center for China-Mexico Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The researcher said that the Asian country could drive global economic growth in general through a new Chinese middle-income group boosting the demand for various added-value products and goods.

In terms of APEC members, Martinez advised that they should seek to specialize in order to be complementary.

"In the last three decades, the world has seen progressive productive specialization," he said, adding that emerging economies have entered various stages of global value chains during this process.

However, Martinez warned that though specialization brings short-term benefits, such as increased revenue, it must be accompanied by national strategies to ensure medium and long-term development.

In the upcoming APEC meeting in Peru in November, he hopes that the members will outline proposals to boost their collective economic growth, including new investment plans.

The expert said that the economic growth of the Asia-Pacific region has allowed its emerging economies to grasp an increasingly important part of global GDP.