Speaking of new member states Bangladesh, Switzerland and Norway, Shen believed the fourth expansion of the ASEM membership is a positive move. Bangladesh's attendance enhances South Asian representation. Switzerland, a permanently neutral state, has great financial strength. And Norway in Northern Europe is an oil producer. "The three countries' participation will help ASEM play a more influential role on the Eurasian continent, and will be significant for global economic recovery," Shen said.

As Europe sleeps restlessly through the nightmare of the financial crisis, it is now Asia's turn to serve as an economic growth engine. While global trade and capital flows bring more risks to emerging Asian markets, big Asian economies, such as China, are drawing more attention for their contributions to the global economy. Want it or not, Asia's influence is on the rise on the Eurasian continent.

Confidence

China's voice is greatly valued on the world stage, said Shen. The Chinese economy has been developing rapidly. The country actively participates in globalization and integrates with the world economic system, gaining a prominent status in the international community. Shen said, "China now is an indispensable partner in the global division of labor. And it is also indispensable in Asia-European cooperation."

While promising its economic growth will remain robust, China, a representative of emerging Asian economies, calls for fair trade and sound economic governance.

"Being a responsible country, China has managed its own affairs well, restored its economy to stability and achieved steady and fairly fast growth in the shortest time possible," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in his keynote speech to the ASEM Summit. He stressed that China is an important engine for world economic growth and has played a crucial role in driving the global economic recovery. "We not only have confidence in meeting the development targets set for this year, but also have confidence, conditions and abilities to achieve development of a better quality, at a higher level and in the longer run," Wen noted.

Wen said as long as Asia and Europe cooperate with each other closely, they can certainly be able to shoulder the responsibility of promoting the steady growth of the world economy. "China has taken a crucial role in global economic governance, helped push forward the reform of the international financial system and extended a helping hand to countries with economic difficulties," he said.

To promote steady growth for the global economy, Wen made a four-point proposal to other leaders: Free, open and fair international trade is an important driving force for world economic growth; enhancing macroeconomic policy coordination remains an important task; innovation in science and technology is a fundamental way to get out of the crisis; and a sound global economic governance system is an institutional guarantee for world economic growth.

Wei pointed out that as ASEM serves as a platform for communication, it will help create a positive interaction between Europe and emerging Asian economies like China by solving frictions between the two sides, so as to guarantee common development for Europe and Asia.

Wei believed that China will play a bigger role in ASEM. "Collective action is always clumsier than bilateral or multilateral interactions," he said. "Several core members that have made bigger contributions and provided more public goods will help guide the collective action of ASEM."

Expanding Membership

Founded in March 1996, ASEM is an intergovernmental dialogue forum between Asia and Europe with the goal of establishing a new-type comprehensive partnership through enhanced dialogue and cooperation. It was founded with 26 members, including seven ASEAN nations (Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and Viet Nam), China, Japan, South Korea, 15 EU states and the European Commission. ASEM has become a 51-member organization after four expansions:

The first—October 2004, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and 10 new EU members

The second—September 2006, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, the ASEAN Secretariat, Bulgaria and Romania

The third—October 2010, Russia, Australia and New Zealand

The fourth—November 2012, Bangladesh, Switzerland and Norway

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)