G7 strives to pair crisis response and free trade

ROME, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The G7 industrial powers, fearing a 1930s-style resurgence of protectionism, ended crisis talks in Rome on Saturday with a pledge to do all they could to combat recession without distorting free trade.

Aware of their limits, they also adopted a more conciliatory tone towards China, a non-member regarded as vital to success at an April G20 summit in London where both rich and developing economies hope to produce visible progress on promises to make the global financial system safer and more accountable.

"We are confronted with a broader and deeper slowdown than has been experienced in decades," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

"We will work closely with our colleagues in the G7 and the G20 to build consensus on reforms that match the scope fo the problem revealed by this crisis."

On the day in Rome, it was mostly renewed pledges from the gathered finance ministers and central bankers, amid mounting tension over the impact economic stimulus plans and state bailouts of industry could have on each other.

Geithner, making his G7 debut in the job, publicly rowed back on comments that Beijing was manipulating its exchange rate to its advantage in export markets and sought to soothe concerns over Washington's own anti-crisis plans.