Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said on June 24 in north China's Tianjin Municipality that a closer economic and financial tie between Asia and Europe is in accordance with the common interests of both continents.

Jin made the remarks prior to the Sixth Asia-Europe Finance Ministers Meeting (ASEM-FMM) scheduled to be held in Tianjin on June 26.

Both continents are undergoing robust growth and their economic and financial sectors are "very complementary", commented Jin while answering a media question.

According to the Minister, Asia now has the world's most dynamic economy and possesses abundant resources and huge market potential. The continent became more economically gripping as its inter-continental economic and financial cooperation was continuously promoted in recent years and relevant Asian countries are currently striving to further boost their ties in related fields.

Meanwhile, the European Union is the largest developed economic body worldwide, characterized by ample capital supply, advanced science and technology and high-level integration.

"The two continents share a broad prospects for cooperation in economic and financial fields," said Jin, considering stable growth of Asian and European economies a "major impetus" to maintaining and promoting the global economy to progress continuously and steadily.

"Both sides should take a long-term view and utilize the historic opportunity to further strengthen Asia-European cooperation in terms of macroeconomic policy, regional collaboration, and financial and economic reforms in line with the principle of mutual benefit, " said Jin.

The Asian and European population combine to account for 40 percent of the world's total and the two continents contribute to half of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The ASEM was a summit-level meeting to strengthen ties between Asia and Europe being first held in 1996 at the initiative of Singapore. The three pillars of ASEM are economic cooperation, political dialogue, and education and culture.

In addition to the ASEM summit meeting being held every two years, ministerial meetings of foreign affairs, economics and finance from the ASEM members were also held regularly to facilitate Asia-Europe dialogue in specific fields. The ASEM-FMM, an important organ within the ASEM framework, was originally held every two years but was later changed to be held annually.

The upcoming Sixth ASEM-FMM marks the first time that China chairs the cynosural meeting.

Source: Xinhua