CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico -- Economically, it's entirely uncharted terrain: a nation of 1.3 billion people moving away from a planned communist system, riding globalization's wave as it experiments with capitalism and causes ripples that are beginning to change the world.

After two decades of reform, the Chinese economy stands alone -- eyed hungrily by investors, watched warily by rivals, its every move scrutinized by neighbors at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum who see it as the beefiest kid on the block.

APEC's 21 member econ-omies -- including Hong Kong and Taiwan, both linked to the Chinese mainland -- meet this week in this Mexican resort with a China that, by virtue of its size and accompanying power, is forcing them to continually rethink their places in the economy of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Since last year's APEC meeting, China has joined the World Trade Organization, considered a pivotal step in its efforts to become a global player. And it places great importance in casting itself as a leader in regional economic and diplomatic matters.

With each passing month, it accumulates more of the credentials required to do so.

Annual economic growth has consistently topped 7 percent as investors pump in dollars by the hundreds of millions. Imports and exports have more than doubled in the past five years, though many foreign companies -- salivating over the size and growing spending power of Chinese consumers -- are clamoring for more imports.

But the economic restructuring that permits such dynamism is roiling some of China's most stable structures. State-owned enterprises, once havens for lifetime employment, are laying off workers and swelling the migrant population, and labor unrest is bubbling up more often. Product piracy runs rampant despite the government's promises to rein it in.

"China is a developing country," said Li Baodong, Beijing's top representative to APEC. "We are still learning. We have the same feeling as other developing countries. We need assistance."