World leaders vowed to overhaul the global financial system and China urged tighter regulation.
But that could put it at odds with US President George Bush who says it is not the time to ditch "proven methods'' that have brought economic prosperity for millions.
Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing this weekend promised wide-ranging and effective reforms.
"Leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems," the 40-member Asia Europe Meeting said in a statement.
China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, called for more regulation of the world's financial system.
"We need to draw lessons from this crisis," Mr Wen said.
"We need to handle correctly the relationship between financial innovation and regulation. We need financial innovation to serve the economy better. However, we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety."
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said it was possible to reach "concrete and important" decisions at the Washington summit.
However, George Bush says the Washington meeting should be a forum for recommitting to the free market.
"Open market policies has lifted standards of living and helped millions of people around the world escape the grip of poverty," he said in his weekly radio address.
"These policies have shown themselves time and time again to be the surest path to creating jobs, increading commerce and fostering progress.
"In this moment of global economic uncertainty it would be precisely the wrong time to reject such proven methods for creating prosperity and hope."
Markets in trouble
Markets around the world are in turmoil after share prices plunged on Friday and Saturday, as investors remain nervous about the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 3.64% while the hi-tech Nasdaq index declined by 3.23%.
On European markets, London and Frankfurt closed 5% down for the day. Asian shares also tumbled - with Tokyo down 9.6%.
In London, billions of dollars were wiped off shares. Sterling suffered its biggest one-day drop against the dollar since 1992 following news that Britain's economy contracted in the third quarter for the first time in 16 years.
OPEC acts
Oil prices have continued to fall despite a decision by the oil exporters group OPEC to cut production by one and a half million barrels a day.
The cut amounts to about 2% of total world production. Oil prices have lost over half their value since July.
OPEC's president, Chakip Khelil, says supply of oil was way ahead of demand and prices had collapsed dramatically in recent weeks.
The United States has condemned the move as an anti-market decision.
"This has become much more global than it was two weeks ago. No one or no market is immune," said Robert Macintosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Corp in Boston.
Job cuts
Elsewhere, the American car giant, Chrysler, says it will cut around a quarter of its 18,500 non-manual workers by the end of the year.
The financial crisis has spread far beyond the banking sector, with electronics maker Sony Corp and American online retailer Amazon.com Inc cutting their forecasts in the face of weakening consumer demand.
In Australia, the share market shrugged off a stronger Wall Street to wipe $A30 billion from its value to close at its lowest level in almost four years. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index lost 2.64%.
New Zealand's NZX 50 was 1% lower at the close of trade.
The sell-off in Asian shares on Friday came as leaders meeting in Beijing agreed to set up an $US80 billion fund to fight the global economic crisis.
Demonstration in Iceland
Icelanders demonstrated in their capital on Saturday to call for the resignation of the prime minister and the central bank chief for failing to avert the financial crisis that has crippled the economy.
People gathered in front of parliament and marched to a government building in the centre of Reykjavik where they chanted calls for Prime Minister Geir Haarde and central bank head David Oddsson to resign.
Iceland's financial system has all but collapsed since the country was forced to take over three of its biggest banks this month.
