Regional leaders held the first-ever East Asia Summit here today, trying to find common ground for half the world's population on issues like trade and security.

While the meeting was brief and specifics were few, they hailed the group's efforts to address terrorism, the bird flu threat and a possible free-trade bloc that could one day try to rival Europe and North America.

But there were also concerns about tensions between China and Japan over their wartime history, which cast a shadow over the run-up to the meeting as well to as a parallel Southeast Asian forum earlier in the week.

"The first East Asia Summit was a success, there's no doubt about it," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said of the gathering, which brought together Australia, China, India, Japan and a dozen other nations.

"We all agreed that the East Asia Community will be a reality as cooperation brings us together to grow stronger," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard also praised the meeting and played down some comments questioning whether Australia is part of East Asia. He denied that his country was a "junior partner" in the new 16-nation grouping.

"I think we're long past the time when this is the least bit relevant or even interesting," Howard said. "We are accepted for who we are."

Some nations had pressed for the inclusion of Australia, India and New Zealand because of concerns that China could dominate the discussions - and set the tone for the region's future - in the absence of the United States.

But critics said the summit, which also invited Russian President Vladimir Putin as a guest, had widened the membership too far. Russia could become a full member next year.

"We are not looking for unilateral advantage," Putin said in a brief speech to the summit. "Our credo in Asia is 'equal partnership and mutual benefit'."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the summit should "respect the desires of East Asian countries" but defended the inclusion of all members as a way of strengthening global cooperation.

The summit grouped the 10 nations of Asean as well as Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Earlier in the week, Wen also took pains to assure a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that the region should not be concerned over Beijing's growing economic and political clout.

Tit-for-tat jabs

Both the Asean and East Asia meetings were clouded by a dispute between Wen and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who said China should "understand" his controversial visits to a Tokyo war shrine.

The two leaders traded tit-for-tat jabs throughout the visit, and while one moment today briefly broke the ice - when Wen handed his rival a pen and they later shook hands - their dispute has disturbed other countries.

"All of us in the region are obviously following these developments with some attention and some concern because of the potential impact on the region," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told reporters.

Koizumi has repeatedly insisted that his trips to the Yasukuni shrine, which commemorates top war criminals among the 2.5 million Japanese war dead, are not an attempt to glorify his nation's militarist past.

"There is no change in my belief that we want to enhance Japan-China ties, even if we have one or two differences of opinion," Koizumi said. "I don't hold any grudges."

China pulled out of the customary three-way meetings with Japan and South Korea on the sidelines of the Asean summit, and foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao was quick to say the handshake did not mean any change in position.