On May 7, 2005, the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers' Meeting was concluded in Kyoto, Japan after issuing the Chairman's Statement which stresses strengthening the multilateralism and enabling the UN to play a leading role in coping with global challenges.
The meeting was opened on May 6 in Kyoto under the theme of "Deepening of Asia-Europe Dialogue on Global Challenges". The foreign ministers or their representatives and the EU Commissioner for External Relations present at the meeting mainly exchanged extensive opinions on strengthening the multilateralism, sustainable development and cultural diversity as well as on the future development of Asia and Europe.
Members of ASEM unanimously agreed to strengthen Asia-Europe cooperation and partnership through ASEM in a bid to tackle global challenges, support the UN reform and make efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In his speech Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said that over the past 9 years since the establishment of ASEM remarkable achievements in political dialogue, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges have been made. The participation of 13 new members will create broader prospects for Asia-Europe dialogue and cooperation. Efforts should be made to reinforce the momentum of Asia-Europe cooperation under new situations. First, priorities should be highlighted and tangible outcome be emphasized. All parties concerned should take concrete actions to implement the objectives and principles defined by the previous summits and push for substantial and balanced development of cooperation in various fields. Second, institutional improvement should be made to increase dynamism and comprehensively raise the dialogue and cooperation quality. Third, the expansion should be realized gradually and influence be extended to enable ASEM to play a bigger role in the international community.
Li said that the Chinese government always takes an active part in ASEM's cooperation process in various fields. This year China will hold a series of major events including "the sixth ASEM Finance Ministers' Meeting", "the first ASEM Prosecutor Generals' Meeting", "the first ASEM Trade & Investment Fair" and "ASEM Political Party and Youth Organization Leaders' Forum". He also declared that the Chinese government expects to host the seventh Asia-Europe Summit in 2008.
The meeting discussed the preparations for the sixth Asia-Europe Summit to be held in Finland next year, agreed to hold the 2007 eighth ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Europe and welcomed China's proposal of holding the seventh Asia-Europe Summit.