Finance Ministers from 13 Asian, 25 European nations and representatives of the European Commission will gather in north China's Tianjin Municipality on June 26 to discuss various options to help deepen economic and financial ties between the two continents.

As an integral part of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), an informal dialogue mechanism established between the two continents in 1996, the Asia-Europe Finance Ministers Meeting (ASEM-FMM) has attached consistent importance to strengthening inter-regional economic and financial cooperation, intensifying efforts in fighting against poverty and pushing global development and economic growth to a higher level.

In recent years, the global economic and financial situations became increasingly complex. Economic globalization and the unstable international financial market have been exerting more outstanding impact on Asian and European countries.

Against such a backdrop, the ASEM-FMM is playing an increasingly important role in exploring a suitable economic development paradigm for both continents, exchanging views on regional economic and financial experiences, and conducting dialogue on macroeconomic policies.

The first ASEM-FMM was held in Bangkok, Thailand in September 1997 and the other four ASEM-FMMs were convened respectively in Germany's Frankfurt, Japan's Kobe, Denmark's Copenhagen and Indonesia's Bali Island.

The Six ASEM-FMM, to be unveiled in Tianjin on Sunday, routinely attracts international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Central Bank to join the discussion. It is also the first gathering of finance deputies from Asia and Europe since the ASEM summit meeting, held last October in Hanoi, Vietnam, admitted three Asian countries and another ten European nations to join ASEM.

The ASEM-FMM, used to be held every another year, was held once a year since 2000.

Source: Xinhua