The APEC summit was originally scheduled to be held November 12. However, Malaysia, the current chair of the regional forum, has decided to postpone it by about three weeks and hold it virtually, according to the source.

One of the main challenges for Malaysia in organising a virtual summit would be "how to accommodate leaders across all the time zones," with members spanning several continents, one of the sources said.

APEC, which accounts for about 60 percent of world gross domestic product and about 48 percent of world trade, groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the US and Vietnam./.VNA