Finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) concluded their 10th meeting on Saturday afternoon in the Japanese ancient capital of Kyoto. Following are the background of the meeting.

ASEAN+3:

Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997 to 1998, the 10 ASEAN member countries have initiated a regular series of meetings at the ministerial and head of government levels with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea.

The meetings include annual meetings of the ASEAN+3 minister meetings of foreign affairs, trade and investment, and finance. In addition, heads of government from the 13 countries meet during ASEAN's annual summits, with meetings between the 13 countries' ministers of trade, finance, and foreign affairs, being a part of the summit proceedings.

ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers' Meeting:

The ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers' Meeting mechanism was established in 2000. At the meetings, discussions focus on financial sector cooperation, a surveillance and policy dialogue process through which countries discuss economic and financial sector trends and indicators, and on the Chiang Mai Initiate (CMI), a network of bilateral currency swap arrangements (BSAs) among the ASEAN countries, China, Japan and South Korea. As of 2004, financial cooperation discussions have also included the Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI).

Source: Xinhua