The head of the World Trade Organisation called on China on Monday to use its growing economic clout to help jump-start stalled world free trade talks.

Geneva-based WTO chief Supachai Panitchpakdi said the world's fifth-largest trading power could help bridge differences between developing and developed countries that precipitated a breakdown in crucial negotiations in September in Cancun, Mexico.

Those talks crumbled as rich nations like the United States and Japan faced off against a bloc of developing countries led by China and Brazil over a raft of issues such as agricultural subsidies and corruption.

"More than ever we need China to join in with other members to put the round back on track to move it forward," Supachai told an audience of Chinese and WTO officials in Beijing.

"At the time when the WTO faces an impasse, we need China to use its influence, to be a bridge between developed and developing member countries," Supachai said.

Some observers have labeled Cancun a catastrophe, a view Supachai said was "inappropriate."