Foreign ministers from Europe and Asia formally began their annual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing on Friday with a call by Chinese President Jiang Zemin for the forum to serve as a "new Silk Road" for exchanges between the two continents.
"The ancient Silk Road, which used to be an important passage between Asian and European civilizations, has played a unique role in the exchanges between Eastern and Western civilizations," Jiang said in his opening address.
"ASEM should build up a new Silk Road to actively boost exchanges between these two civilizations in the new century so that countries in Asia and Europe will build on their respective civilizations and respect, learn from, complement and benefit each other," he said.
The two-day ASEM conference, which began with a working dinner on Thursday, is intended to reinforce political, economic and cultural dialogue between Asian and European countries.